New York congresswoman Carolyn Maloney thinks she has the solution to the student loan debt crisis. She wrote about it in Politico.

The Student Debt Crisis Solution

State governments and families hit hard by the recession now have fewer resources to commit to education. With states investing almost one-fourth less in public universities from 2003 to 2012, universities have had to charge more. With family savings depleted, students have to borrow more. The average debt of a bachelor’s degree recipient at a public four-year institution has climbed from $21,900 in 2006-07 to $25,600 in 2012-13.

And there’s another piece of the story. While tuition at private colleges hasn’t increased as rapidly as at public institutions, private colleges remain more than three times as expensive as public colleges. With average tuition of over $31,000 a year, these schools are priced out of reach for all but the wealthiest students, requiring most students to take on huge debt loads to finance their educations. New initiatives such as the College Scorecard, which empowers students to compare crucial information like tuition costs and earning potential of various majors, offer promise. But even bolder action is needed.

The answer to the student debt crisis is not to restrict the availability of federal student loans or to increase the market share of private lenders offering significantly higher interest rates and fewer consumer protections. The answer is to strengthen our public commitment to higher education—making tuition free at community colleges, increasing investments in Pell Grants and partnering with the states to ensure that a college education is accessible to anyone who wants it.