The student loan system in the United States is broken at both ends. The students have no incentive to shop around and keep costs down while going to school. The companies that loan money to students don't really look at whether or not they are a good risk.
As painful as it may sound, I personally think that you should only be loaned a certain amount of money based on the degree you're getting and potential earnings in the future. If companies wish to loan you more money believing that you're good risk and charge you a little more interest along the way, that's fine, but you could also end up defaulting on your loan and the company could lose out on their bet. Their needs to be accountability and risk on both sides of this transaction.
I dont understand this sentence at all - "The students have no incentive to shop around and keep costs down while going to school." . There is a direct financial incentive to shop around and save on the cost of an education, which in most cases is one of the larger financial outlays in a persons life.
As painful as it may sound, I personally think that you should only be loaned a certain amount of money based on the degree you're getting and potential earnings in the future. If companies wish to loan you more money believing that you're good risk and charge you a little more interest along the way, that's fine, but you could also end up defaulting on your loan and the company could lose out on their bet. Their needs to be accountability and risk on both sides of this transaction.
My two cents worth....