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Why Americans Will Get Less Help Paying for College

Explore episode Jul 1, 2026

Where this was said

What University Administrators Won't Say

At 26:30 · chapter starts 26:15

Rachel Abrams pushes Lieber on what university administrators actually say when confronted with their role in the debt crisis. Lieber's answer is damning in its understatement: they try to say as little as possible. When cornered, they argue that they don't force anyone to take on debt and that the federal student loan program exists as a matter of public policy — essentially washing their hands of responsibility for what happens after graduation. They frame high tuition not as predatory pricing but as appropriate compensation for the education they provide. Lieber doesn't press the point further at this moment, but the implication hangs in the air: schools have profited enormously from a system that shielded them from any accountability for outcomes.

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