Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is breathing new life into a bill that was originally introduced by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis when he was serving in Congress.
The bill would force colleges and universities to get financially involved in the student loan debt crisis, which makes perfect sense given their role in the creation of the problem.
From Semafor, via Yahoo News:
Chip Roy is reviving a Ron DeSantis bill to make schools pay for bad student loansRep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, will introduce a bill hold universities accountable for unpaid student debt, reviving a component from a bill that Ron DeSantis introduced in 2017 when he served as a member of Congress.The education bill would require colleges to pay an annual fine based on the overall amount of outstanding federal loans among their students in default — they would be liable for 15% minus the average national unemployment rate for that year. It also features other reforms, including requiring more transparency about repayment rates.“Look, these universities have to have some skin in the game,” Roy said before sharing the legislation with Semafor.DeSantis has also referenced his work on the policy since launching his campaign, saying it would push schools to emphasize job skills. “If they were responsible for guaranteeing the debts of the students, then they would change their curriculum,” he said at an event in South Carolina this month. “They would not be able to offer post-Marxist gender studies, because that’s not leading to anything.”The bill, Roy said, would provide a Republican counter to President Biden’s student debt program, which was intended to provide borrowers up to $20,000 in one-time relief before being struck down by the Supreme Court.
Roy is doing this with support from Senator Mike Lee of Utah. They have released a joint statement:
Representative Roy said, “Higher ‘education’ in America has largely become a crony government-supported credentialing racket more interested in political indoctrination than pursuing truth or preparing Americans for the workforce.The more involved the federal bureaucracy has become with educaion, the worse and more expensive things have gotten.Enough. It’s time for schools to have skin in the game for how much debt they encourage young Americans to rack up. It’s time to start getting the feds out of the college business, and put states and students back in charge. That is why I’m proud to work with my good friend Mike Lee in introducing this critical first step toward that goal.”Senator Lee said, “Too often, our bright young minds needlessly face the unfair choice of either drowning in debt or sacrificing their dreams of higher education. The HERO Act aims to alleviate the ever-increasing financial burden required of students pursuing their educational goals by capping loans that exacerbate costs. It would transform our educational landscape and allow students to tailor their unique learning journey and gain the skills needed to excel in today’s dynamic economy.”The HERO Act will free up states to establish their own accreditation systems and cap the amount of money the federal government can loan. These reforms would lower the cost of higher education and lead to greater innovation as colleges and universities return to focusing on serving students.
As we recently pointed out, the cost of college tuition has risen at an astounding rate in recent decades.
Schools should be an active player in the aftermath, not just at the beginning when they get all the benefits.
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