There were many years when Republican and Democratic lawmakers weren’t too far apart on higher education policy. Their rhetoric reflected different priorities, but neither party really pushed for a radical departure from the status quo. Debate about reform was largely at the margins. But times have changed. 

The Overton window on higher education has shifted dramatically to the left, allowing progressive values to manifest in the form of overreaching executive actions; namely, the Biden Administration’s efforts to cancel student debt. Republicans can no longer engage in the discourse on fixing higher education by advancing modest or incremental reforms. The damage inflicted on higher education can now only be undone by radical reform. A bill currently on the floor of the House would accomplish just that.

The College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), introduced by Representative Virginia Foxx earlier this year, offers a pathway back to a sustainable regime of federal financial aid and accountability for institutions. 

Higher education in the United States is about to become a runaway train. By dismantling the integrity of the student loan program, piece by piece, President Biden is also emboldening the thousands of colleges and universities that participate in these programs, enabling them to inflate their prices to match. As students come to realize they may not have to pay back the loans they take from taxpayers through the federal student loan program, they’re going to be willing to borrow more, knowing it’s the taxpayers—not themselves—who will be paying the price. 

The CCRA, if passed, will act as the break on that runaway train. But rather than bringing the system to a screeching and disruptive halt, the legislation succeeds in offering a path forward that is both corrective and sustainable.

The proposed bill aims to accomplish the following improvements to federal higher education policy:

• Holds colleges to a higher standard. Colleges and universities that fail to deliver career opportunities that justify their costs will cease to have access to federal aid and will no longer be able to saddle students with unaffordable debt. When they do, it will be their responsibility to cover the cost.
• Ends the legally dubious and politically motivated campaign by the White House to cancel student debt. 
• Simplifies student loan repayment while maintaining safety nets that prevent borrowers from having to repay debts that are truly unaffordable. 
• Supports student success by increasing grant funds given to the neediest students.

Reform of the Higher Education Act of 1965 has been long overdue. But the actions of the Biden Administration over the last few years have made an already urgent situation dire. Dramatic reforms, like the ones proposed by the CCRA, are badly needed. These changes may seem radical relative to the status quo, but the status quo isn’t sustainable. Lawmakers should seize this opportunity to right the ship and ensure that higher education will continue to be a mechanism for social mobility for generations to come.

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