[joshuaellinger]

I just realized my earlier comment on the WSJ being misleading did not really clear.

He has the facts right but, to get published in the WSJ, he can't point at the real issue. It is same problems we have the with banks. These institutions have tons of hidden subsidies. They always will. Subsidized industries behave differently from non-subsidized ones in general but the WSJ approved solution is to pretend that it is possible to remove the subsidy.

For public goods (utilities, parts of finance, education), you have to have government intervention and deal with the side-effects. That means regulation and rules about what you do with the money.

I don't think the author would disagree when I say that the administrator are stealing from the taxpayers. But what is 'bullshit' is saying that we just have to accept it. When people are stealing from you, you deal with it head on. If they were employees, you would fire them.

I don't have a great answer for colleges but you need to at least let the administrators know that they are acting immorally. It is not the loan process that is immoral -- it is the people who are running the colleges.