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USA 2.0

Eagle Policy Initiative
50 Sections (44 ready)

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  • Policy Essays

    • The 70% Pay Cut

    • Housing: Back to 1.7 Years

    • Education: Back to 1970 Prices

    • Healthcare: The Hybrid Model

    • Social Security: Cut Taxes in Half

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By Erik Bethke
Policy Essays

Education: Back to 1970 Prices

2 min read
ready

Kill the Accreditation Cartel

Target KPI: LYI-Edu ≤ 1.8 years of median labor to earn a bachelor's degree.

The current system uses the state's monopoly power (courts, IRS, credit bureaus) to enforce student debts - even beyond normal bankruptcy protections. That's not a free market. It's state-enforced rent extraction.

Two Blunt Instruments

1. Ban Negative Credit Reporting on Education Loans

Today: Colleges + lenders know students will do almost anything to avoid FICO destruction → pricing power.

If banned: Loan becomes a "soft claim." You can still collect, sue, garnish - but you can't nuke credit. Risk shifts back to lender and school.

Effect: Borrowers pay only when terms feel fair. Education debt becomes "pay what you want/can."

2. No Federal Loans for Private Institutions

Today: Any private institution, no matter how bloated, can tap the federal spigot. That props up sticker prices.

If cut off: Privates must cut net tuition, spend endowments, or invent new financing. Publics become the natural low-cost backbone.

Supporting Reforms

  • Accreditation competition: Multiple competing accreditors; program-level accreditation. Lower entry barriers → new low-cost providers.
  • Credit portability mandate: Force credit transfer by default. Ban "we don't take outside credits" games.
  • Unbundle + proctored stack: MOOC + labs + clinicals. Marginal cost toward zero for theory.
  • Apprenticeship-first tracks: Paid rotations count as credit. Income offsets tuition.
  • Endowment accountability: 5% minimum payout on mega-endowments or tuition-reduction requirement.
  • Licensing reform: Replace "BA required" with competency exams where sane.

What This Achieves

Remove both blunt instruments and the system resets fast:

  • Lenders underwrite carefully or price risk
  • Schools must price to what households can actually pay
  • The sticker-price fantasy collapses

Net effect: LYI-Edu converges to ~1.2-1.9 years for publics within 6-8 years. Best systems hit ~1.0-1.5 (very 1970-ish).

This is a free market solution. The current system is the opposite.

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Healthcare: The Hybrid Model