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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced on Friday that the final version of the much-debated healthcare package would include another vital piece of legislation—a reform of federal student loan programs. Private banks had been furiously lobbying against the bill, which would cut out the middle man between students and the loans they need. Rather than having government loans sifted through commercial banks before being received by students, the government would lend directly to those who need the money. The bill will also redirect approximately 67 billion dollars toward the expansion of the Pell grant and other programs for low-income students. Iowa Democrat and chairman of the Senate Education Committee said on Thursday that “the federal government has been subsidizing these banks and wasting taxpayer money for far too long. It’s time to end it.” Now, a new book by economist Nancy Folbre, expands on the debates that are raging through campuses – how students, parents, faculty, and staff can fix the public higher education system to make it accessible to everyone. The book is called “Saving State U: Why We Must Fix Public Higher Education.”

GUEST: Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst