( CNN ) -- The threat of increasing loan rates on future college students has become the newest political cudgel . It should n't be . Lowering interest rates on subsidized student loans does little to address the real problems of higher education : rising tuition costs and diminishing returns . First , let 's remember how we got here . After taking back control of Congress in 2007 , then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi passed legislation that temporarily lowered the interest rates on the federally subsidized Stafford Loans from 6.8 % to 3.4 % . The extension would last until July 2012 , when the rates double to 6.8 % , partly as a budget trick to offset the original costs . The Washington Post 's editorial board called the whole ordeal `` a campaign gimmick that Democrats cooked up to help them retake Congress in 2006 . ... It 's expensive , it 's poorly targeted and it diverts attention and money from bigger problems facing federal support for higher education . '' With the rates set to expire in the middle of this election season , Democrats knew full well they could use the threat of rising interest rates against Republicans . They 've done exactly that . `` Today you 've got Republicans who run Congress , and they 're not saying whether or not they 're going to stop your rates from doubling , '' President Obama said at the University of Colorado last week . Feeling the political heat , House Republicans as well as Mitt Romney agreed to extend the low interest rates . That 's unfortunate . Republicans need not be on the defensive . How does the president plan to pay for the $ 6 billion subsidy ? And how will it help control tuition costs ? So far it has n't . In 2011 , costs at the average public university rose more than 5 % for in-state students , or about $ 1,100 . The average tuition at public universities rose more than 8 % . By comparison , the rate of inflation was 3 % . Furthermore , only about a third of undergraduates have subsidized Stafford Loans and the interest rates for existing loans wo n't be touched . The average student with Stafford Loans graduates with about $ 13,000 in debt , much lower than the national average of $ 25,000 . If the current rate doubles , they would pay about $ 2,600 more over 10 years . The effect of doubling the rates from 3.4 % to 6.8 % is minute when compared to the lifetime earnings of a person with a bachelor 's degree ( approximately $ 2.27 million ) to a person with just a high school diploma ( $ 1.3 million ) . Perhaps most important , extending the low interest rates will not lower tuition costs for the students who need it most . The Stafford Loans largely fund the tuition of middle- and upper-class students on the backs of taxpayers . Pell Grants , the federal assistance to the poorest students , should be the real focus of discussion . If Congress continues to subsidize low interest rates , they are handing the problem , and the mountain of debt , to future generations . In fact , they are passing on the debt to the very group of people they are trying to help : college students . With the federal government backing low interest rates , colleges have no incentive to lower tuition . Instead , the rates should be variable and tied to the market , not set by the government . The real problem here is the colleges and their unholy alliance with the federal government . Here 's what the president should be saying : The college system is largely failing students and taxpayers . Colleges continue to raise their prices despite record increases in federal subsidies . Between 1982 and 2007 , college tuition and fees rose more than 400 % ( about four times the rate of inflation ) Today , the average student loan debt exceeds $ 25,000 and total student loan debt exceeds $ 1 trillion . Less than 60 % of college students finish college in six years or less . One out of every two college graduates today are unemployed or underemployed . The system overspends and underperforms . It 's unlikely that President Obama would ever say this . After all , he holds the system in his hands . Last year , in one of the most underreported political moves of his term , the Obama administration took over the student loan industry , cutting out private competition from banks . Taxpayers are now directly responsible for higher tuition costs and the resulting large amount of defaulted student loans . In 2010 , total student loan debt exceeded credit card debt . It may not be long before this bubble bursts , hurting the very students who need help the most . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett .
William Bennett : Low interest on student loans does n't bring down college tuition . Bennett : The issue has become the newest political cudgel . He asks : How does President Obama plan to pay for the $ 6 billion loan ? Bennett : Government needs to stop charging low interest rates .