Nick  Romanos’  idea that all college-age Americans should receive an $80,000 account for higher education  has a few major flaws that I will try to outline here.

First, cost. The program is very unlikely to pay for itself. In order to handle the sheer quantity of accounts, the government would have to employ a large number of accountants in order to keep the books straight. This cost will become exponentially larger if the account withdrawals are audited or monitored to make sure that the funds are used for academic purposes.

Second, when will the funds be repaid? Nick says that repayment begins when the graduate earns a “livable salary.” What exactly is a livable salary? Do teachers make one? Also, what happens to the funds from those who never get a job or don’t graduate?

Third, how will these accounts work? There will be a net cost associated with this program, so there must be an interest rate of some sort. But then of course, we’re stuck back where we started with loans.

The only difference is that everyone is guaranteed a big one and the interest rates will probably be far higher than current loans to make up for the losses. I write this as a debt-free senior. I’m debt-free, not from family money, but because I’ve worked jobs from high school through college. It’ll take me 5.5 years to graduate, but it was well worth it.

Matt Johnson

senior, mechanical engineering