When billionaire Robert F. Smith surprised Morehouse College’s class of 2019 with the news that he planned to pay off all of their student loans, the 400 new graduates were understandably thrilled. Not having to worry about student loan payments would obviously be a huge relief for anybody, especially when they are just starting out into the professional world. Of course, most students graduating from college are not likely to get that kind of surprise bailout. Still, Smith’s generosity served another positive function: it drew attention to the student loan debt crisis.

If you don’t like to drive, you can always bicycle or take public transportation. It might be slower, but you’ll get there. For many professional careers, though, the only way to get started is with a college degree – sometimes a graduate degree. Most students therefore feel like they don’t have a choice. With no apparent options, they take on debt, hoping that in the long run it will pay off by helping them get ahead in today’s economy.

Unfortunately, college costs have been rising steadily for decades, faster than inflation and faster than wage increases. Students have therefore been forced to borrow heavily to pay for their educations. Today the average amount of student loan debt among college graduates in the United States is over $37,000, with more than 44 million people together owing $1.5 trillion.

Middle-class students tend to take on the most debt for school, since they lack the resources of wealthy students but are not eligible for some financial aid that helps poorer ones. Poor students and people of color are hit hard as well, however. It is significant that Robert Smith chose Morehouse for his gift, since Morehouse is a historically black college and African-American students not only take out more federal student loans than their peers, but are also at higher risk for defaulting.

Paying off student loans can take years, or even decades. Some student borrowers are never able to pay off their loans, resulting in high default rates and trashed credit scores. Others feel obliged to take the first job they can find, so as not to fall behind on payments. That means they lose out on the theoretical career boost from having their degree. Some fail to graduate at all, ending up in debt with no advantages to show for it. Maybe worst of all, fear of debt may discourage some prospective students from applying to college to begin with. That defeats the whole purpose of having student loans, which are meant to make college more accessible.

The effects of student loan debt also go beyond just the borrowers. Money put aside for student loan payments is money that cannot be spent on starting up a new business, buying a home, or other goods and services. In this way, student loan debt negatively impacts the economy as a whole.

How did the situation get this bad? For one thing, the student loan business used to be solely a government program. Then in the 1990s, the student loan business was “privatized,” allowing lenders to seek profit from student loans. Some banks gave loans to students who could not afford to repay them. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is much like what happened a decade later with the subprime mortgage crisis – which led to a national financial meltdown and recession. During that recession, state governments cut spending on higher education, forcing colleges to hike tuition and students to borrow even more.

Plenty of government leaders and politicians talk about fixing the student loan debt crisis, but so far there is little agreement and less progress. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos wants to limit student loans, which she believes contribute to higher tuition. However, it seems unlikely that college tuition will suddenly go down, so it is hard to see how this will help. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the College for All Act, which would lower interest rates on student loans and help borrowers refinance their student loans. (His plan would also make public universities free for many students.) Senator Elizabeth Warren has her own plan, which would eliminate a sizable chunk of debt for students in eligible households. However, both of their proposals face serious opposition in Congress. Other discussions address making sure students know what they are getting into when they apply to college and take out student loans. Information and guidance are obviously important, but we also don’t want students lowering their ambitions because of money.

The real question is not: How can we make student loans affordable? It is: How can we make sure that every student who wants to go to college gets that opportunity? With debt skyrocketing to unmanageable levels, too many students failing to complete college even when they receive loans, and too many graduates not making enough money to justify high tuition expenditures, we have to consider that student loans may no longer be the most efficient way of helping students access higher education.

The current system of college financing is broken. Student loans are no longer accomplishing their task. Shouldn’t we instead be doing whatever is necessary to help students go to college? That’s what Robert Smith decided, but he can’t pay off everyone’s student loan debt. Together, however, we can eliminate the need for student loans. If what Smith did was admirable – and everybody seems to agree that it was – then shouldn’t we, as a nation, be emulating him?

We can make “college for all” a reality. Both Senator Sanders and Senator Warren propose funding their higher education reforms by taxing only the very wealthy. Warren’s plan would tax households with annual income above $50 million, while Sanders’s plan would tax Wall Street investment firms engaged in speculation. The same methods can be used to replace, rather than reform, the student loan system. For some in politics, “tax” is a bad word, but tax money is routinely used to fix broken infrastructure, and higher education is a key part of the economic infrastructure of the United States. After all, lower debt and an educated workforce are good for the economy, and that’s good for everyone.

Ultimately, we have to ask: Why was Robert Smith so widely praised for helping one graduating class write off their student loan debt? Partly it was because of his generosity, but it was also because he was identifying a national priority. He was saying that supporting an educated, debt-free workforce is money well spent. He was saying that young people are worth investing in. If we agree on that, we can act on it.