And yet that’s exactly what we’re about to do. Again.

The Daily Signal reports.

Taxpayer Funded Summer School Is Not the Answer to the College Cost Problem

In theory, part-time and full-time students who have increased access to Pell Grants would be encouraged to finish their degrees faster and graduate with less debt. Unfortunately, the proposal to expand Pell Grants ignores the root cause of the high college costs and will likely make a college education more expensive for everyone.

Currently, the Pell Grant program costs taxpayers $30 billion every year. Congress experimented with summer Pell Grants back in 2010, but the Obama administration cut funding for the program in 2012. The Department of Education wrote that it had significant concerns over the program’s effectiveness, explaining:

Thus far, however, the costs of this initiative have far exceeded expectations, and significant concerns exist that in the aggregate program completion rates have accelerated only marginally, if at all. In light of the extraordinary costs of this initiative, and before any additional costs are incurred, the administration believes it is prudent to thoroughly study whether the benefits generated are sufficient to justify the expense.

This rare display of fiscal conservatism on the part of the Department of Education was supported by President Barack Obama, but met with much opposition in Congress. Now, Congress will consider expanding Pell subsidies, which is expected to cost taxpayers $1.33 billion.

Not only is expanding the Pell Grant program to cover summer courses unlikely to improve the circumstances of college students, but expanding the Pell Grant program is just bad policy.