Promoting student debt

EDITOR: According to a new report from the College Board, college costs are increasing so fast that they are outpacing inflation by a significant margin. In my view, the driving force behind our out-of-control, student debt bubble is readily available government money, too freely loaned to students. It's nothing short of a blank check for universities and colleges to drive costs up with little accountability, cavalierly knowing students can freely borrow whatever they need to pay for a bloated infrastructure.

It's an obvious conflict of interest if our goal is to reduce this unacceptable, out-of-control student debt burden and the bleak future they face trying to pay it back while trying to make college affordable for everyone. I propose the government should put a cap of, say, $10,000-$15,000 per year on what can be borrowed, automatically forcing colleges to focus on efficiency, controlling pensions, administrative overhead and excessive staffing if they want full enrollment. Otherwise the free market will direct students elsewhere, and colleges will be forced to reduce their costs.

BILL EDELEN

Santa Rosa