Federal student loans were never meant to be handouts, but increasingly that’s what they have become. More and more students have piled up massive debt. And Washington politicians, always eager to spend other people’s money, have adopted policies such as loan forgiveness and income-based repayment that allow students to delay payments or have them discharged altogether. When this happens, the federal government keeps lending to students, and taxpayers find themselves stuck with an ever-increasing tab for outstanding student loan debts.

Consolidating federal loans and placing annual and lifetime caps on lending amounts would create more space for private lenders, hedge against tuition inflation and lessen student-level debt.

It’s time to break up this government monopoly and let private lenders restore some common sense and discipline to the student loan process. A competitive loan market would put downward pressure on tuition prices, save students from taking on crippling amounts of debt and protect taxpayers from having to assume debts not of their own making.

Read the full article on federal student loan programs by Mary Clare Amselem at The Heritage Foundation