The taxpayer con of the century

Federal student loans were established as part of the Great Society to help low-income students. Yet step by step, Democrats have turned student loans into an entitlement for academia and the affluent. Rather than make college free on the front end—which might have failed to pass Congress—they want to waive the costs at the back end.

As the loan limit increased over time—now $57,500 a year for independent undergrads and $31,000 for those dependent on their parents—colleges raised their prices to sop up more federal largesse. It doesn’t matter to the schools if their philosophy grads work as baristas…

Others go to grad school and pile on more debt. Federal graduate debt is uncapped, so colleges have added expensive graduate programs to reel in more subsidies. The average borrower who completes a master’s degree in film at New York University owes $113,180 and makes a mere $30,581 three years after graduation.