Social conservatives have a solution for those buried under mounds of student loan debt: have more kids, with help from the government.
At a forum sponsored by the Family Research Council on Friday, Allan Carlson, president of the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, identified debt from higher education as a key reason young adults are putting off marriage and children. Instead of acting as vehicles of investment in human capital, loans have left too many students in a system of bondage, Carlson said. To address the issue, he proposed the federal government pay off one-fourth of married parents' student debt (up to $5,000 each) for every new child born to or adopted by the couple.
Student debt is an unusual topic for the Family Research Council, a Christian organization focused on promoting the traditional family unit. Abortion, homosexuality and pornography are political issues more typically dealt with by the FRC. But when Carlson raises an issue, social conservatives listen, said Pat Fagan, a senior fellow at the FRC. Fagan views the student loan problem as part of a troubling trend in society towards burdening young people with debt instead of investing in them.
Carlson's proposals aren't reflected in the student loan legislation pending in the Senate, which would overhaul the structure of federal student aid. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the House in September, would convert the federally subsidized private student-lending program into a direct loan program run by the Education Department, generating an estimated $87 billion in savings over the next decade to be reinvested in education. Carlson is more concerned with the concept of financing higher education through debt than with who originates the loans.
In an operational sense, student loans have acted as a "magical source" of money for higher education, Carlson said, and as a consequence they have allowed colleges to avoid fiscal discipline. A return to apprenticeships, instead of the implicit national policy that all young adults should attend college, is one of his solutions to the bloated price tag of higher education. Apprenticeships offer a path to learning a trade skill that doesn't incur debt and provides a modest wage.
Many of the policies Carlson supports for financing higher education are similar to progressive proposals: enhancing Pell Grants, eliminating interest payments on loans, providing debt relief for students who perform public service, and providing income-based repayment plans for federal loans. Carlson could potentially be an ally for progressives interested in putting student loans from for-profit schools under the jurisdiction of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Carlson said he would need to review that issue more closely but believes that the banks need more regulation.
Carlson said he supports eventually phasing out the student loan program entirely, but, recognizing the unlikelihood of an end to federal student aid, he offers his idea of government subsidies for parents with student debt as a "radical thought experiment."
Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at FRC who attended the lecture, said he would support Carlson's proposal if Congress took it up, but FRC is not poised to jump into the student loan debate regarding existing legislation. The group does say it is increasing research on the nexus between family and the economy.
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