Court Strikes Down Student Debt Forgiveness: Will Higher Ed Accept Responsibility?

After months of deliberation, the Supreme Court has finally ruled on the legality of President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, striking down the executive action that for months dominated dinner table conversations and political debates.

Wherever one stood on forgiving a portion of the debt—the total of which amounts to more than $1.7 trillion—we must accept that higher ed’s underlying issue goes much deeper than the ballooning debt carried by hard-working students and underwritten by taxpayers. Yet unfortunately, while debates rightly elevated the issue to one of national importance, they too often failed to unearth the root of the problem.

By and large, our higher education system is not providing sufficient value to students, of which affordability is just one variable. Completion rates remain stagnant, significant equity gaps persist, and employers do not believe most graduates have the skills needed to succeed in the workforce, according to a 2021 study conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Sadly, a smaller portion of today’s graduates are experiencing the economic and social mobility enjoyed by previous generations. In fact, nearly 1/3 of all institutions leave their students with zero economic return after accounting for the cost of attendance, according to the Postsecondary Value Commission. As a society, we must question a system with rather uneven, mediocre outcomes relative to the comparatively high costs.

While student loan forgiveness could have provided needed relief to learners our system may have failed, it wouldn’t have solved any of these fundamental issues. It would have been, in effect, a band-aid solution. Without making system-wide changes, students will still pay exorbitantly with both their money and their time, with the odds of graduating still only slightly better than a coin flip, and no guarantee their credential is aligned with a high-value career. Flash forward five years, and a new crop of students would emerge with even higher debt, and renewed calls for debt cancellation. Our students deserve better.

Without the government and taxpayers to bail them out, institutions must accept responsibility and make learning more affordable and valuable. While institutional business models will necessarily vary, the following mutually-reinforcing value propositions (as shared in a previous column) are guideposts that can help ensure all learners experience a strong return on their investment.

1.Improve the relevancy of learning outcomes and credentials

To ensure students derive real value from their education, learning outcomes must align with the rapidly changing opportunities of our future economy. This applies to all credentials, as even liberal arts degrees can be infused with the professional skills learners need to succeed in the workforce, while also enriching learners with the uniquely human skills that will endure throughout their lifetimes.

Leveraging technology is a smart place to start, with promising startups connecting curriculum designers with employers to ensure students are taught relevant skills and gain exposure to corporations looking to hire. Tech-enabled solutions are also providing higher education institutions with real-time data insights about workforce trends, open positions, and career guidance; and conversely, leveraging data to help existing employees upskill and reskill by connecting them to the educational provider that’s best suited to their needs.

2.Personalize the student experience

To increase student engagement, overall wellbeing, and feelings of preparedness for the real world, colleges and universities must work to positively influence factors that are within their control via personalized instruction and support. For instance, leveraging technology in the learning process delivers insight into how students are engaging with content, how they’re interacting with their peers and instructors, and how they’re performing on their assessments, enabling more data-driven and targeted interventions for individual students.

Human engagement is also key to addressing the full range of students’ social, emotional, and experiential needs, and mentorship models that pair each individual student with a program mentor are a promising solution. When we personalize the student experience through individualized support and encouragement, we’ll increase the probability that every student completes. 

3.Increase affordability

The crippling level of student debt is the symptom of a larger problem: too many learning experiences aren’t designed to be affordable in the first place. In 2019–20, for example, private nonprofit and public schools devoted less than one-third of their spending on course delivery and instruction. When the majority of an institution’s spending is unrelated to instruction, it’s time to reconsider what matters most to students.

In addition to controlling costs, some institutions are increasing affordability by implementing learning and delivery models that allow students to progress through their courses as soon as they demonstrate mastery, enabling them to complete their credentials more quickly. Increasing the transferability of credits is another solution, as one of the biggest obstacles to on-time completion is credit loss. And alternative sources of education financing that reorient educational and financial institutions away from student loan lending in mass is an avenue worth exploring. When the incentives of colleges, financial institutions, and students are aligned towards a common goal—student success—we can all but ensure that a student’s credentials will merit their cost.

If we’ve learned anything from the debates on student debt forgiveness, it’s that our current higher education system isn’t working for too many students, past and present. While Washington continues to explore and debate other means of relieving student debt and reining in the costs of education, our institutions need to take responsibility now for their role in perpetuating a crisis of value that’s holding individuals back from achieving their dreams.

That’s not to say it will be easy—colleges and universities face numerous constraints that uphold the status quo and make innovation challenging. But we have good reason to be hopeful: across the country, innovative institutions, including the one where I serve, are demonstrating what is possible when singularly focused on delivering value to students. With a focus on improving learning relevancy, personalizing the student experience, and increasing affordability, our colleges and universities can finally make opportunity work for everyone.