If you’re interested in the worrisome growth of student debt, check out my new essay for National Affairs. I explain how the student debt crisis came about, explore some of the suggested reforms, and offer my own solution. In short, I argue that the federal government should stop calculating loan awards on the basis of individual colleges’ cost of attendance, since that incentivizes administrators to raise costs without consequence. It’s behind a paywall, but if you subscribe you can read it immediately.