Accumulated student loan debt now totals $1 trillion. The Super Committee should fix the student loan program by requiring evidence of ability to repay guaranteed loans.

Inspired by President Obama’s cheap election-year politicking, Congress has launched into a frenzied, bipartisan panderfest over the Stafford loan program. Late last week, an emotional House speaker John Boehner led House Republicans to vote for an Obama-proposed giveaway he’d denounced just a few days previously.For those who don’t...

The federal government has taken over large swaths of consumer lending, most notably the $10 trillion home mortgage and $1 trillion student lending markets. The government's share of new loans for each now approaches 100%.Government monopolies in financial services pose risks to taxpayers as well as borrowers

A side effect of the risk-assessment approach to student loans is to nudge the student cultures of college campuses in the direction of making responsible adult behavior more respectable.

A change in the federal student loan program can potentially produce more studious behavior from many students, not only in college but also in primary and secondary schools.

Congress should act quickly to reform the consolidation program. Doing anything less is the fiscal policy equivalent of Russian roulette.

The current consolidation program breeds inequities and carries potential costs that dwarf those of the underlying student-loan system.

Maria Koklanaris interviews Frederick M. Hess on student educational loans.