Students don’t want handouts. They want to get state university tuition under control | Opinion

One of the biggest talking points against investing in government spending is the ineffectiveness of government programs. And oftentimes, there’s some truth to that assertion. However, some great U.S. social programs miss many people who need them most — from the 2.1 million low-income Americans falling into the Medicare coverage gap, to the 7.3 million who are not eligible for affordable housing units.

But one coverage gap that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is the higher education gap, and it’s something I’ve experienced personally. I grew up in a lower-to-middle income household in the Kansas City area. My family did not have enough extra income to save for my college expenses, but unfortunately, we made too much money for me to qualify for federal Pell Grants, which are awarded based on financial need. This story is true far too often for African Americans, who on average owe nearly double the amount of college debt as their white peers.

So when it came time to pay for college, the federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid program offered me only a low amount of unsubsidized loan money. Every year, I dreaded the application process because I felt so defeated by what my future payments would be. Along with my mother as a co-signer, I signed up for almost six figures in debt for a four-year degree. I understood what I was doing, as much as any 18-year-old understands the terms and conditions of a loan. However, each year I was reminded of the college affordability gap that so many students fall into.

Throughout the 2020 presidential election season, I was optimistic and encouraged about Joe Biden’s commitment to forgive some federal student loan debt. His proposal, which the Supreme Court gutted Friday, would have eliminated less than 10% of my debt, leaving me with the remainder in private loans.

While that relief would have been game-changing for me, it’s not the only solution that can help college graduates enjoy the financial freedom we deserve to contribute to the U.S. economy. With the current burden of student loans affecting at least 44 million borrowers with $1.6 trillion in loans, a range of comprehensive solutions is necessary to solve the problem.

While I am not optimistic about a pathway to eliminating all private student loans, given that private lenders hold less than 10% percent of overall student debt, I believe we must bring together the public and private sectors. Without tangible action, we’re doing a disservice to future generations, because 100% of student borrowers will continue to be affected by the rising costs of higher education.

I attended a university that offered me in-state tuition rates. Yet I still dug myself into hundreds of thousands of debt, making it tough to take those next steps in life such as building credit or buying a home. Even though my school touted its frozen tuition as a landmark of affordability for multiple years, it continued to increase additional fees, while housing costs continued to rise.

The cost of college has skyrocketed over the past 20 years — but Pell Grants and state tuition programs haven’t kept up. I believe there’s a much simpler and clearer policy solution, it just demands our lawmakers act with the courage to make a change.

The Biden-Harris administration should do more to correct for this problem. The federal government has been able to cap prices, so there is a pathway to capping the cost of higher education at state institutions. If state institutions of higher education can apply for aid that funds 50% of their projects and research grants and pay for high-salary faculty positions, students deserve the ability to access that same funding for their education. If schools want this assistance, they should be required to cap tuition and fees at levels that federal student loans would cover. Multiple states already have statutory power to do this.

Asking for sensible and equitable policies is not asking for a handout. Rather, students want smart and innovative policy solutions with a lasting impact for our lives and future generations.

We don’t need excessive means-testing. Rather, we need policies targeting the most marginalized communities. Let’s create a new model for inclusive policy that doesn’t leave people out.