Mr. Obama deserves recognition for putting forward a reasonable proposal that was in the ballpark of what Republicans would accept, and for rejecting partisan pleas to stick with his previous advocacy, electorally motivated, of setting low loan rates a year or two at a time.

The current debate about the interest rate on subsidized student loans is a case study in dysfunctional politics.

At this event, Bennett and Wilezol will present their book, higher education finance experts Richard George and Richard Vedder will provide discussion, and a coffee reception and book signing will follow.

The first step toward making our student aid system more sustainable and effective is to acknowledge, as fully as possible, what each program costs us each year, and whether those dollars are well-spent. Until then, we'll continue to make policy based on politics and deadlines, not sound accounting and common sense.

Policymakers and school leaders have far more control over productivity than assumed, but tend to lack the requisite information on which to base resource allocation decisions. This report provides a framework for helping college leaders determine which policies and practices provide the most bang for our education buck.

Improving the quality of higher education and curbing the costs of college tuition are not irreconcilable goals. However, tuition costs should be regulated not by the government but by the free market.

Tuition, fees, and other college charges have increased in both the public and private sectors at more than twice the rate of inflation for over a quarter century. This report seeks to examine the extent to which public policies at both the federal and state levels have shaped these trends in price and cost productivity.

National School Choice Week is coming to a close, and while the focus is on K-12 what about the choice and options available in higher education? College costs have skyrocketed - in 2011 the average tuition for one year at a private university was almost $33,000.Ballooning student loan debt, an...