Skyrocketing student loan debt is not only an issue for those in financial trouble. The student loan debt crisis is a relevant issue for everyone in the United States, as well. These days, it’s becoming increasingly necessary for one to earn a degree to have a fighting chance in the global job market.

There was a time when small-business owners and blue-collar workers alike could make respectable, middle-class livings without going to college. Of course this is still possible, it’s just becoming increasingly unlikely.

The forces of globalism have made upward social mobility in the United States more difficult, making education priceless. Yet higher education today costs more than ever before, and has become a burden to the entire economy.

Hard-working and talented young people deserve a chance to go to college and earn an affordable degree, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

At Syracuse University, for example, Say Yes to Education stands out as a good example of the right way to make education more accessible. The non-profit program targets students in the Syracuse City School District and offers free college tuition to graduates meeting the necessary requirements.

Unfortunately, not all underprivileged students are lucky enough to have an organization like this near them, and instead are left with little choice but to swallow a costly government loan.

Many of these highly motivated, underprivileged students could help spark the engine of our economy, but instead they’ll be bogged down in student loan debt for many years to come —unable to spend and invest.

According to The New York Federal Reserve, between the first quarter of 1999 and the second quarter of 2011, cumulative student loan debt increased by a staggering 511 percent.

Inflation cannot explain the trend. College tuition in 2008 posed about three times more of an economic burden than in 1978, according to College Board.

Government intervention is absolutely necessary.

Congress failed to pass legislation that would prevent an automatic interest rate increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 — a failure that will affect more than 7 million students if nothing further is done about it.

Cutting interest rates on student loans isn’t the best solution because it doesn’t get to the crux of the problem. Lowering the cost of borrowing is admirable in theory because it makes education more accessible.

But research by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in February 2012 has indicated that too much federal aid can have the adverse effect of enabling tuition increases.

Washington needs to craft a piece of legislation that will provide an incentive for colleges to lower their cost of tuition.

For institutions with tuition costs below a minimum threshold, the government should provide increased subsidies for research and development. This type of research support already exists through a host of federal agencies, but public resources should only be allocated if they’re helping to drive tuition costs down.

Government intervention intended to make higher education more affordable and accessible is a noble endeavor. But the student loan debt crisis is a particularly nasty unintended consequence of recent public policy.

The higher education system is a defining characteristic of America. Unfortunately, it’s defining a lot of American lives by debt.

Ethan Demers is a senior political science and history major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected]. 

Published on July 11, 2013 at 12:09 am