Seize all university endowments to pay off all outstanding student loans. Make the cutoff for payoffs effective January 1, 1980.
Make student debt dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Ban federally subsidized student loans in favor of expanded scholarships and grants programs.
Require new issuance of student loans be limited to 1/3 of the expected market returns of a degree. For example, if the median computer science job pays $90,000 per year in the US, limit the maximum loan allowed per student for a bachelor’s degree to be $30,000 and cap universities from charging more than the allowable loan for each degree program. Loan issuers may loan more if the median income of graduates at that particular university is higher than the US median, but may loan no less than the median unless there are academic performance or credit worthiness concerns (only applies to students out of school and in the workforce for 5 years or more).
Require loans to be issued by semester and reevaluated each semester based on student performance. If the student changes majors, the next semester’s loan is recalculated based on the median income for that major and can be adjusted up or down based on the students outstanding debt and academic performance. If the student has been out of school and in the workforce for more than 5 years, credit score can also be a consideration for a student loan without academic performance. Standardized test scores cannot be the sole criteria for the approval of student loans.
Universities are not allowed to charge fees unrelated to the direct education of the student unless the student has informed consent and can opt out without fear of reprisal.