We join the Wall Street Journal in thinking that the Senate made the right call on student loans. The bipartisan bill, which passed the Senate on July 24 and should be approved by the House, now ties interest rates on federal student loans to federal borrowing costs. Ideally, the government would stop monopolizing the student loan market and, by extension, stop inflating the cost of higher education. But, at least for the near future, that’s politically impossible. Especially when you have Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the Occupy Wall Street crowd making irresponsible claims about a .75% rate, which the Brookings Institute has labeled “one embarrassingly bad proposal.”

We know, we know, Swarthmore prioritizes a “loan free” education—which is great. But many students whose parents don’t qualify for generous financial aid but nonetheless find Swarthmore’s $57,000 tuition price tag a heavy burden do indeed take out loans. And does anyone really believe that the incredible cost of Swarthmore isn’t a response to national market forces and the distorted cost of borrowing?