Marco Rubio Takes Aim at Higher Education 'Cartel'

Appearing on William Bennetts radio show on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., continued his opposition to President Barack Obamas efforts to reform student loan repayments and called on U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to allow a vote on Republican education proposals. Rubio also had choice words for the current higher education system, calling it a cartel which stood against change.

The concept that we would somehow want to measure the repayment options that people have before them to how much they make, is not necessarily a bad one, Rubio said. And in fact, Im working on a solution to do that in a responsible way. The problem with what the president has done, beyond the fact that its through executive action, is the forgiveness aspects of it. You know, after 20 years 10 years if youre in the public sector, 20 years if not the whole loan is forgiven, and in my mind it creates the potential for more of this to occur in the future.

I mean, one of the fundamental problems that we have in America today is we have a mid-20th century higher education system, which is a cartel that protects itself against innovation and competition, Rubio added. And it is awarding a lot of degrees that dont lead to jobs, and its charging a lot of money for it. The evidence is quite clear that the more money weve made available whether its through loans or grants theres no incentive for these universities and colleges to -- If Im going to give you $4,000 a semester, whats the incentive to lower my price to $3,500 a semester? The incentive is to take up all $4,000. And then a lot of it is people getting degrees that dont lead to jobs. And, again, the liberal arts departments go nuts when you talk about the fact that an art history major is going to struggle to find a lot of work, given the new economy.

So, I would hope that we would take a more comprehensive view of all the issues involving higher education in the 21st century, including the need to create a system where a 41-year-old head of household who has lost his job, or her job, and still has to raise a family and work full-time is able to go back to school and acquire skills, or reacquire skills, that allow them to be employed, Rubio continued. "And all the left is focusing on is pouring more money into an existing, outdated status quo. But they have no ideas, whatsoever, about moving us into the 21st century, in terms of higher education.

The message theyre trying to send here to 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds who cant find a job is, Were here to help. Were going to make your life easier. And what theyre hoping is that Republicans will just oppose it and have no alternatives, Rubio said. But we do have alternatives. We look forward to talking about those alternatives. And I hope theyll give us a chance to vote on those alternatives. Unfortunately, in the Senate, Harry Reid these days doesnt really allow a vote on anything.