The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has increased tuition by $224, or just under 3 percent, for the 2018-2019 academic year. Adjusted for inflation, College Board states there has been a 9 percent increase in tuition at public universities in Pennsylvania over the past 5 years.

Stories like these make students rethink how we’re paying for college. Of course, one of the most common solutions is student loans.

Federal student loans are awarded to any higher education student who meets certain minimal academic criteria. However, federal student loans only enable the absurd tuition of today’s universities.

Student loans are unique because the borrower typically doesn’t start to pay them off until they graduate. While advocates for federal loans argue they are designed to give borrowers a chance to become financially independent before incorporating loan repayment into their budget, this enables students to excessively borrow, as there is no assurance that a job capable of paying these debts will be waiting for them once they graduate. In fact, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that only 62 percent of college graduates are employed in a job that requires an undergraduate degree, and only 27 percent find a job that pertains to their undergraduate degree’s major. What happens to the other 38 percent who don’t work in a position that requires a degree? Why do students elect to finance a degree they don’t utilize in their career? Students think in a “pay later” mentality and neglect to recognize the serious financial commitment they are making with accepting these guaranteed federal loans, because they are just that: guaranteed. Nearly every student is eligible to receive a federal student loan, so it seems customary to take out these loans, even if they won’t be able to repay them.

The Department of Education estimates more than 42 million Americans hold federal student loan debt, which equates to 39.7 percent of those that hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the Census Bureau. Two out of five college educated Americans holding student loan debt allows colleges to use federal student loans as a subsidy for themselves, not the student.

What does that mean for universities?

A friend once told me, “If students can afford it or borrow it, universities will charge it.” To analyze the economic impact these loans have, we must look at the higher education industry as a whole. With the guarantee of federal student loans, universities are able to use them as price floors for tuition, throwing off the market’s natural equilibrium where supply (spots in universities’ classes) meets demand (students willing to fill a spot in a universities’ classes), causing there to be a lower quantity of higher education demanded, while maintaining a higher price tag.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy lavish residence halls and extravagant student unions as much as the next student. But nationwide, the rise in tuition is the most dangerous threat to our higher education system, and the way to fix it may be to cut the cord on “aid.”

The writer, a June graduate of Seneca Valley High School, will be a freshman this fall at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.