Who should bear the cost of public tertiary education?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: Who should bear the cost of public tertiary education?
Position1 of 2›: Tertiary education should be subsidized by the government
Argument1 of 3›: Risk sharing

Splitting the responsibility of paying back student loans between institutions and students may help regulate the cost of public tertiary education, keeping it affordable to all.

The argument

Risk sharing between students and public tertiary institutions will essentially make institutions liable for some payments that graduates are unable to make in a timely manner. This incentivizes the school to keep tuition down and the quality of education up, as to have well-qualified graduates who are likely to get jobs and make payments. Further, this system would keep students honest through the use of benchmarks to determine eligibility. If a student doesn't meet eligibility, they can no longer benefit from this program.

Premises

[P1]If tertiary institutions share liability for graduate loan repayments, they are incentivized to lower tuition and raise educational quality so graduates can secure jobs and repay. [P2] Eligibility benchmarks tied to government subsidies keep students accountable by removing support from those who fail to meet performance standards. [C] Therefore, the government should subsidize tertiary education through a risk-sharing arrangement that aligns the incentives of schools, students, and taxpayers.

Counter-arguments

Risk sharing creates an incentive for institutions to reconsider their admissions policy, which would favor higher-income students who can afford to pay more tuition. This is inequitable and puts low income students at a disadvantage.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Students with the means to pay for college in full can circumvent any student-loan policy with ease.