Student loans are risky for students and taxpayers: Students who fail to pay down their
loans can face serious consequences, while taxpayers lose billions.
Risk-sharing policies require colleges to bear some of the financial risk that student loans will
not be repaid. Though untried in the US, risk sharing has a successful track record in Brazil.
An early version of the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act would have required colleges to
reimburse taxpayers for some losses on student loans; this provision was not in the final bill.