The Case against Student Aid - Aaron Smith - Mises Daily

The Case against Student Aid - Aaron Smith - Mises Daily: "The unintended consequences of [Federal Financial Aid] are numerous, indeed. Skyrocketing tuition, high default rates, and pathetic graduation rates — to name a few — are all byproducts of a system that incentivizes inefficiency, largess, and misguided decisions. Oddly, while many students aren't legally permitted to take a sip of alcohol, they are systematically encouraged to contract into years of, essentially, indentured servitude."

"teaching loads plummeted an astounding 36 percent between 1987–1988 and 2003–2004. It has been estimated that such reductions have increased costs by $2,850 per student at public four-year colleges.

Of course some research is indeed productive. However, it is highly unlikely that many of the 21,674 scholarly publications written on Shakespeare between 1980 and 2006, for example, had a demonstrable impact on student success. Colleges have much to save — and students even more to gain — when college officials reprioritize the work of their faculties."

"The national six-year graduation rate from four-year institutions is an abysmal 57.3 percent. For African Americans, whose well-being statists are supposedly trying to promote, this figure is 42 percent. In addition to wasted time and the dark cloud of failure for those who don't graduate, 8.8 percent of all borrowers were in default in 2009. In fact, 2 million senior citizens have student-loan debt, 11.2 percent of which are in default."

"Every degree type, after all, is indiscriminately given a four-year curriculum. It is rarely questioned why a student studying engineering and another studying business are to attend college for precisely the same number of years."

"In the absence of FFA, a student would be more cognizant of their return on investment (ROI). Of course, actually having to pay for an education, and not merely buy one, would immediately increase their sensitivity to price."

"True, fewer students would eventually enroll in higher education, as critics will likely point out with vigor — but is this worse than having myriad students dropping out with debt and many more graduating with impotent degrees?"

"Currently, the costs of student-loan default are borne predominantly by taxpayers. If colleges are, indeed, confident that their programs will result in successful outcomes — then why shouldn't they assume this risk?"