(The Conversation) - As an education researcher who has studied the economic returns of higher education, I know that college degrees remain cost-effective investments for most students.

But college tuition has risen at roughly twice the rate of inflation during the past two decades, and federal student debt climbed 500% to US$1.6 trillion during that same period.

The Biden administration sought to address this problem with plans that accelerated student loan forgiveness for lower-income borrowers with small balances, allowing debt cancellation after 10 years of repayment, instead of 20 or 25.

However, the courts blocked those efforts, and the Trump administration has taken a sharply different approach.

Guided by evidence that higher borrowing limits contribute to tuition increases, th

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