if I were the feds, I would stop underwriting student loans and make any new loans dischargeable under bankruptcy. probably a good thing neither of us actually gets to decide.

underwriting cap and dischargeable in bankruptcy would do it

I think the first part is already true? "underwrite" was probably the wrong word to use in my original post. the federal government doesn't really underwrite loans anymore; it directly issues them. the federal loan options all have yearly limits already. if I understand correctly, the remaining private loans are actually not underwritten by the federal government.

but anyways, I don't really see the point in having the federal government issue loans knowing it will end up forgiving a large chunk of them. why not just package that money as grants to the neediest students instead?

They need to be forced to limit a 4 year degree tuition costs to the average starting salary for people with the same degree graduating from their school. Align the incentives for them to provide valuable degrees and they make more money. This will get rid of a lot of the waste (pointless administration and cruise ship level amenities). If you want government backed loan promises you have to play by their rules.

I agree it would be prudent for the government to be more discerning with issuing loans (or imo not do it at all), but I don't think the schools themselves should be forced to do anything. most people already have access to perfectly good state universities that charge in-state students less than a year's wages at mcdonald's. I went to one of these and got a valuable education, minus the "cruise ship level amenities". if someone wants to blow $50k/year on a medieval lit degree at a mid-tier liberal arts college, that should be up to them, provided it is made clear that it's probably not a good financial decision.