Editorial Board
A Painkiller for Student Debt
Student-loan programs intended to prevent defaults don't reach the people who need them most. A bill just introduced by Senators Marco Rubio and Mark Warner would change that.
The U.S. system of student loans is nobody's idea of a successful program. Default rates are near a two-decade high, burdening borrowers, the government and the economy as a whole. Yet programs intended to help prevent these personal fiascos -- by tying debtors' payments to a portion of their income -- don't reach the people who need them most.
Legislation introduced today by Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia would help to change that. The bill would expand the income-based repayment plans already available, by automatically enrolling each new borrower in such a program. Borrowers would pay 10 percent of their annual income toward their debts, with the option to pay faster.