Illinois is forcing high school seniors to apply for federal student aid | & More "Rand Flag" laws
Illinois doesn't get a lot of things right. Their population is rapidly decreasing, their taxes are rapidly increasing. Their pension is severely underfunded, and they're slowly but surely filling up federal prisons with former governors.
Of all the mistakes they routinely make, it's clear they always execute one thing properly: really terrible economic decisions. The new law that takes effect for the 2020-2021 school year fits right in with what seems to be an ongoing theme in Illinois- make prices artificially high.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a new law requiring high school seniors to fill out a FAFSA application before being allowed to graduate high school. That is, they are no required to apply for college financial aid to be able to graduate. Proponents of the law say that this is a great way to encourage students to pursue higher education after high school. My own opinion is that it's a way to encourage students to go into debt, and a great way to keep prices high on college tuition.
Why is this a bad thing?The other basic economic incentives this creates are also pretty cut and dry. The more money you make artificially available for a product, they higher price that product will have. Laws like this artificially increase demand, and they make use of money that would not otherwise be available in a free market. In addition, financial aid is not guaranteed to cover the entire cost of college. Therefore, many people who can least afford it, are likely to be going into debt when they otherwise would not have.
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