{"id":2335503,"date":"2024-09-02T08:03:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T12:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-must-make-universities-pay-for-issuing-useless-degrees\/"},"modified":"2024-09-02T08:13:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T12:13:54","slug":"congress-must-make-universities-pay-for-issuing-useless-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-must-make-universities-pay-for-issuing-useless-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress Must Make Universities Pay For Issuing Useless Degrees"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-must-make-universities-pay-for-issuing-useless-degrees%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2335503&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent measure\u2064 by the Biden Administration allowed \u200bsome \u2064Gen Xers, like musician Joel Lambdin, to\u2064 wipe out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-losing-support-with-key-voters-following-failed-attempts-to-thwart-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s support wanes among crucial voters after unsuccessful Supreme Court interventions\">substantial student loan debt<\/a>, sparking\u200d debates \u200cabout who ultimately \u2063pays for such forgiveness. Critics argue that shifting debt\u2062 from individuals to taxpayers encourages irresponsible borrowing and spending among universities. The ongoing legal challenges to federal student debt relief highlight the need for \u2063effective legislative reforms.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed College Cost Reduction\u2064 Act (CCRA), supported by House Republicans, aims to\u2063 tackle the\u2064 root causes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-biden-administration-pushed-remote-learning-at-students-expense-now-it-wants-to-kneecap-online-classes\/\" title=\"The Biden Administration Pushed Remote Learning at Students\u2019 Expense. Now It Wants to Kneecap Online Classes.\">rising student debt<\/a> by holding universities \u200caccountable for their \u2064pricing and the outcomes of their programs. The bill includes mechanisms\u2062 that would \u2063require institutions \u200bto share the \u2062financial risks associated \u2062with student loans. If their graduates struggle to repay, universities would bear some of the costs, incentivizing them to provide better\u2063 value\u200c in education.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. \u2063Virginia Foxx emphasized the lack\u2063 of transparency in the\u2064 higher education market and\u200b called for schools \u2064to provide clearer cost and return on investment information. The CCRA aims to enhance competition among colleges, improve educational outcomes, and better align\u200b programs with the \u2064job market&#8217;s needs, \u200baddressing the critical \u200clink between higher education \u2062and the\u200c economy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A few months ago, a handful of lucky Gen Xers virtually won the lottery when the White House directed the Department of Education to &ldquo;adjust&rdquo; their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/student-loans-what-to-know-about-sept-1-end-of-federal-debt-payment-pause\/\" title=\"Sept. 1 marks the end of federal debt payment pause for student loans. Here&#039;s what you need to know.\">student loan accounts<\/a>, in some cases down to zero. Joel Lambdin, a 49-year-old string musician from New York City, became a poster child for this one-time forgiveness measure, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-to-get-student-loan-forgiveness-income-driven-repayment-genx-2024-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Business Insider<\/a> reported. During his studies and bohemian career, Lambdin had accumulated $250,000 in student debt that remained in forbearance for more than 25 years &mdash; until suddenly, one day, a letter from the White House wiped his debt clean.<\/p>\n<p>As Fox News host Jesse Watters <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JesseBWatters\/status\/1782939645862441352?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commented<\/a> to his audience: &ldquo;Who paid for it? You did.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nobody on the right or left side of the political aisle denies the urgent need for reform in how the nation funds postsecondary education. America&rsquo;s young people are being pushed into a one-size-fits-all college track that saddles many with large student debts &mdash; too often without preparing them for rewarding careers. But the left&rsquo;s &ldquo;solution&rdquo; &mdash; transferring mountains of student debt to taxpayers, many of whom did not attend college &mdash; only encourages more bad behavior, including increased student borrowing and reckless spending by unaccountable universities.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden Administration&rsquo;s continuing difficulties in federal court &mdash; which just this week saw SCOTUS&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/28\/supreme-court-nukes-bidens-unlawful-student-loan-bailout-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reaffirm<\/a>&nbsp;the Eighth Circuit&rsquo;s rejection of the Department of Education&rsquo;s attempt to cancel student debt via changes to the income-driven repayment regulation &mdash; underline the need for a legislative solution. A better approach that addresses the root of mounting student debt has emerged from the House of Representatives: The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/6951\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA)<\/a>, a comprehensive higher education reform bill sponsored by House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.<\/p>\n<p>In her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hixk5WENRTE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opening statement<\/a> at the bill&rsquo;s markup session, Rep. Foxx did not mince words: &ldquo;We are scamming young Americans. College prices are skyrocketing, and college value is stagnating.&rdquo; But unlike targeted debt cancellations, the CCRA focuses on the colleges themselves by requiring them to have skin in the game. Instead of students and taxpayers shouldering all the risk themselves, the bill would hold universities partially accountable for defaults by their student borrowers.<\/p>\n<p>In this way, the CCRA&rsquo;s core components would directly address the underlying causes of student debt concerns instead of trying to place a Band-Aid on the symptoms. The bill&rsquo;s reforms would hold colleges financially accountable for overpriced degrees that leave students in debt without good job prospects. It would establish PROMISE grants to reward colleges that establish a maximum price at the time of enrollment for their entire program.<\/p>\n<p>Under the bill, if poor student outcomes resulted, institutions would be financially responsible for a portion of any loans their students struggled to pay off. If a large percentage of these sub-prime student loans supported study in a specific department, the university could shed some liability by shuttering that underperforming program. <\/p>\n<p>The CCRA also mandates transparency by requiring institutions to provide prospective students with clear, personalized information about the costs and expected return on investment (ROI) of their education. Taken together, these measures would create strong market incentives for schools to orient their program portfolio toward the needs of students and employers.<\/p>\n<p>At the markup session, Rep. Foxx contrasted higher education with other types of purchases, highlighting the absurdity of what we are asking of young college-age Americans: &ldquo;Students are the buyers and colleges are sellers. Yet in this market, the product is sold without the buyer knowing the real price,&rdquo; she pointed out. &ldquo;The product often underperforms expectations. And the product would not be viable at its price point without the injection of nearly two trillion taxpayer dollars industry-wide.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Universities that offer low-ROI programs should be losing customers and going broke. Instead, bad federal policy rewards institutions that lead their students to a dead end.<\/p>\n<p>This problem is too important to ignore because higher education is intimately tied to the American economy in myriad ways. University research and development facilitate the creation of new technologies; the curriculum establishes industry frameworks and provides credentials for professionals like doctors, lawyers, and engineers; and college campuses are community cultural and intellectual hubs.<\/p>\n<p>The CCRA creates new incentives to improve quality by enhancing competition. Currently, universities are protected by an onerous accreditation system that gives existing institutions a competitive advantage over new entrants to the market. The CCRA will reform the accreditation process, making it more transparent and focused on outcomes rather than inputs or ideology.<\/p>\n<p>By breaking up the accreditation monopoly, the bill would foster a more competitive environment, incentivizing existing universities to improve their programs and reduce costs while opening the marketplace to new and innovative institutions. This shift would not only benefit students by providing more educational options but would also pressure institutions to maintain high standards and provide value.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of the CCRA extend beyond students and parents. Taxpayers would appreciate how the CCRA restores fiscal sanity to education. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2024-05\/hr6951.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congressional Budget Office<\/a> has estimated that the bill would save taxpayers $92 billion over just the next four years, largely because it would reverse the worst excesses of the Biden administration&rsquo;s debt cancellation agenda while forcing colleges to price tuition more competitively. It turns out that exploiting students so colleges can grow their endowments is not only unfair; it&rsquo;s unsustainably expensive for the country.<\/p>\n<p>The CCRA represents an overdue paradigm shift from the worn-out policy of giving higher education a blank check. Instead of arbitrary loan forgiveness, we need accountability. This bipartisan legislation would give universities skin in the game. When 18-year-olds agree to debt-finance four years on a college campus, they deserve to know the school has a financial incentive to prepare them for success in their career.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Andrew Cuff is a senior policy analyst for the Higher Education Reform Initiative at the America First Policy Institute.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few months back, a select group of fortunate Gen Xers experienced a windfall when the White House instructed the Department of Education to &#8220;adjust&#8221; their student loan accounts, with some being reduced to zero. Joel Lambdin, a 49-year-old musician from New York City, became emblematic of this one-time debt forgiveness initiative, as reported by Business Insider. Throughout his studies and artistic career, Lambdin amassed $250,000 in student loans that remained in forbearance for over 25 years\u2014until he received a letter from the White House that erased his debt.<\/p>\n<p>As Fox News host Jesse Watters pointed out to his viewers: \u201cWho paid for it? You did.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>There is widespread agreement across the political spectrum on the urgent need to reform how postsecondary education is funded in America. Young people are often funneled into a standardized college path that burdens many with significant debt\u2014frequently without equipping them for fulfilling careers. However, the left&#8217;s proposed &#8220;solution&#8221;\u2014shifting vast amounts of student debt onto taxpayers who may not have attended college\u2014only perpetuates poor practices such as increased borrowing and irresponsible spending by unaccountable universities.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden Administration has faced ongoing challenges in federal court; just this week, SCOTUS upheld the Eighth Circuit\u2019s dismissal of the Department of Education\u2019s efforts to cancel student debt through modifications to income-driven repayment regulations. This highlights an urgent need for legislative action. A more effective approach addressing the root causes of rising student debt has emerged from Congress: The College Cost Reduction Act (CCRA), a comprehensive higher education reform bill introduced by House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).<\/p>\n<p>In her opening remarks during discussions on the bill, Rep. Foxx was direct: \u201cWe are scamming young Americans. College prices are soaring while its value remains stagnant.\u201d Unlike targeted debt cancellations, CCRA aims at holding colleges accountable by requiring them to share some financial risk associated with defaults on loans taken out by their students.<\/p>\n<p>This way, CCRA&#8217;s main provisions would tackle fundamental issues related to student debt rather than merely addressing its symptoms. The reforms would make colleges financially responsible for overpriced degrees that leave graduates burdened with debts but lacking good job opportunities. It proposes PROMISE grants as incentives for colleges that set maximum tuition rates at enrollment time.<\/p>\n<p>Under this legislation, if students struggle academically or financially after graduation leading to poor outcomes, institutions would bear part of any unpaid loans incurred by those students. If many subpar loans were linked to specific programs within a university department showing consistent underperformance could lead schools to reduce liability by closing those programs.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, CCRA emphasizes transparency; it mandates institutions provide prospective students clear and personalized information regarding educational costs and anticipated returns on investment (ROI). Collectively these measures aim at creating strong market incentives encouraging schools to align their offerings more closely with both student needs and employer demands.<\/p>\n<p>During discussions about higher education purchasing dynamics at markup sessions Rep. Foxx highlighted an absurdity faced by young Americans today: \u201cStudents are buyers while colleges act as sellers; yet here they purchase products without knowing true costs,\u201d she noted further emphasizing how often these products fail expectations due largely because they rely heavily upon nearly two trillion taxpayer dollars industry-wide just so they can exist profitably.<\/p>\n<p>Universities offering low-ROI programs should be losing business but instead benefit from flawed federal policies rewarding institutions leading students toward dead-end paths.<\/p>\n<p>This issue cannot be overlooked since higher education significantly impacts various aspects tied closely together within American economic structures\u2014from university-led research fostering new technologies development through curricula establishing professional credentials necessary across fields like medicine or law\u2014to campuses serving vital cultural hubs within communities nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>The CCRA introduces new competitive incentives aimed at enhancing quality standards among educational providers currently shielded under cumbersome accreditation systems favoring established entities over newcomers entering markets seeking innovation opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>By dismantling existing accreditation monopolies created via outdated practices surrounding institutional evaluations focused primarily around inputs rather than outcomes or ideologies\u2014the bill encourages competition compelling current universities towards improving program offerings while reducing overall costs benefiting both learners seeking diverse options available alongside maintaining high-quality standards expected throughout industry sectors involved therein.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond benefiting only students\/parents alike taxpayers stand poised reaping rewards restoring fiscal responsibility back into educational funding realms where Congressional Budget Office estimates suggest potential savings reaching upwards $92 billion over next four years alone reversing excesses stemming directly from previous administration\u2019s misguided cancellation agendas forcing colleges adopt more competitive pricing strategies ultimately proving unsustainable long-term reliance exploiting vulnerable populations simply grow endowments unjustly burdening society overall economically speaking too! <\/p>\n<p>CCRA signifies overdue shift away traditional policies granting unchecked access funds instead prioritizing accountability measures ensuring universities maintain vested interests preparing graduates adequately succeed professionally once they enter workforce post-graduation phase effectively transforming landscape surrounding higher learning experiences altogether!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3406,"featured_media":2335504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-82.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4402,35136,10658],"class_list":["post-2335503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-congress","tag-education-policy","tag-universities"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-82.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3406"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2335503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2335504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2335503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}