College tuition is soaring, as is the rate of student loan default. According to the most recent statistics, 27% of student loans are in default, and that number is expected to rise as more low-income students attend college. The expected pay-off of a college degree in the form of full-time, well-paid employment upon graduation has failed to materialize for growing numbers of graduates.

At the state level, only Assembly Bill 2377, signed into law by Governor Brown in 2014, has the stated goal of helping eligible college students refinance student loan debt at more favorable rates. However, the bill only creates a revolving fund to provide approved financial institutions protection against losses resulting from default. The anticipated lowering of interest rates never materialized, thus benefiting the banks while doing little, if anything, to make student loans more affordable.

At the federal level, Congress is tasked with the re-authorization of the omnibus Higher Education Act, which expired in 2014. This Act includes the entire student loan system. Under consideration are the consolidation of all existing federal students loans and grants into single loans and the opportunity to refinance loans to fixed interest rates of 4%. Given today’s impasse in Congress, there is little optimism that other proposed legislation, such as the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act and the Obama Student Loan Forgiveness Act, will be adopted in the near future.

For the past eight years, the federal government has very quietly made itself the primary bank for student loans, implementing a program that is aimed exclusively at students. This federal program caps monthly payments at 10% or 15% of borrowers’ discretionary income and forgives the remaining balance after 20-25 years or, for those who work in public service, after just 10 years. Unfortunately, many millions of students remain unaware of this debt relief that makes repayment affordable, thus lifting the burden of debt that for many extends for decades or leads to default. Let’s get the word out about this program!