When it comes to education, we should encourage diversification

OPINION:

President Biden is trying again to implement a widespread student loan cancellation package, and again the administration has run into a pesky obstacle—the Constitution. In April, the Biden-Harris administration announced its second attempt to “fix the student loan system” and forgive millions of student borrowers’ debt. And again, the plan has been blocked by federal courts.

While the administration’s efforts remain in legal limbo, the practical, real-life implications are clear: this misguided mainstay of President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ education platform would incentivize colleges to raise tuition costs, diminish the value of a post-secondary degree, and set the stage for continued undoing and redoing as future administrations assume office all creating real uncertainty for students. Not to mention, the unilateral action—which the Supreme Court has already ruled violates the Separation of Powers principle—would saddle everyday taxpayers with the enormous cost of subsidizing the education of the wealthy and highly educated.

Sadly, putting ideology ahead of practicality has become a hallmark of the Biden-Harris administration. The president and his advisors seem to care more about symbolic victories than the impact its policies have on students and their families, employers, and taxpayers, as well as those who choose not to attend college or instead choose to attend vocational training and trade schools.

This is true even when you look at the Department’s own rulemaking. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its Gainful Employment (GE) rule as part of a massive trove of new regulations designed to establish new safeguards for university students at the detriment of career institutions. The ED insists this new rule is needed to protect students from “unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings from career development programs.” However, in practice, this new rule will have disastrous consequences for students and the higher educational landscape in general.

Consequently, more than 700,000 students roughly the population of the District of Columbia stand to lose access to the educational programs of their choice when the GE Rule takes full effect. These students will have little choice but to apply to traditional four-year institutions, many of which are expensive and unlikely to offer an equivalent degree. Some students may discontinue their education altogether, having initially chosen to pursue a nontraditional education for a reason. Such an outcome should be troubling to anyone who values closing the skills gap and promoting equal access to education.

The American Consumer Institute has a record of standing in support of nontraditional and career institutions of higher education because they play an important role in the education ecosystem. In fact, our own research has found that proprietary and trade schools provide educational and economic opportunities to students who might otherwise be left behind. Students who spend money to earn an education are consumers, and we’re standing up for their interests.

America benefits from an all-of-the-approach to higher education; we need a mix of traditional higher education, career colleges, and trade schools. Taken together, students should have options to go to any school they desire. Unfortunately, there is often an overemphasis on students going to expensive private non-profit schools. When it comes to education, we should encourage diversification.

The Wall Street Journal dubbed Generation Z the “Toolbelt Generation,” and rightly so. An unmistakable trend has taken hold in higher education with more students turning their backs from the traditional four-ear diploma and toward colleges that provide skilled training for in-demand, high-paying jobs. Last year, enrollment in vocational schools rose 16 percent, with students studying construction trades up twenty-three percent over the past five years. At the same time, Gallup found Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36 percent, a sharp decline from just a few years ago.

But with the Biden administration on the hunt to shutter these schools, America’s students would be worse off. The federal government shouldn’t put its thumb on the scale and cut off access to some schools while shoveling subsidies towards traditional schools.

Proprietary schools are also more important than ever due to the widening skills gap. There is significant demand for blue collar positions such as electricians, health care and IT professionals, and welders all of which require a great deal of certification. Unfortunately, fewer workers are entering these fields, due in part to the ongoing regulatory onslaught from Washington. In recent years, the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Office of Enforcement shuttered two of these schools — Florida Career College and Colorado College America which has reduced access to earning skills in the areas that are more in demand than ever.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration isn’t focused on increasing access, they are preoccupied with “rolling out a debt-relief program for more than 40 million Americans, revamping the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and resuming student loan repayments.” In other words, its resources are focused on student loan cancellation, not on making sure that students could access college.

The Biden-Harris team also seems to ignore the huge costs associated with its student loan cancellation fanaticism. While “free college” may appeal to the nave, ultimately the tab must be paid by someone, and that someone is taxpayers. An analysis by the University of Pennsylvania found the President’s latest loan cancellation plan would cost $84 billion, not including the $475 billion it is expected to cost.

With Vice President Harris as the Democratic nominee for president, there’s no sign that the Biden-Harris team plans to get real and refocus its energy and resources on student interests. It is incumbent then on Congress to implement guiderails to keep the Department of Education honest, and the courts to keep it in its lane, so that this administration and future administrations put reality ahead of high-minded ideals, in the interest of all.

• Steve Pociask is president and CEO of the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.TheAmericanConsumer.Org or follow us on Twitter (X) @ConsumerPal.