Why Is College So Expensive That it Drowns Millions in Debt?

President Joe Biden last week announced a plan to forgive a portion of federal college loan debt for millions of Americans. In a speech from the White House, he explained that the Department of Education would “forgive $10,000 in outstanding federal student loans” and that Pell Grant recipients would “have their debt reduced [by] $20,000.” Only those making less than $125,000 a year would qualify for the relief.

Given that the average student debt is nearly $30,000, this certainly does not erase the burden that so many Americans carry with them. Biden’s plan is expected to erase only a tiny sliver of the $1.75 trillion that is owed on student loans.

How did higher education become so expensive in the first place that millions of Americans are burdened by student debt?

 

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