Last month, Democratic candidates for president stood on stage and said they would fix higher education with a snap of their fingers. Politicians such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders promised to make all college free and forgive student loan debt. While higher education has become an issue in our nation, these candidates’ plans would only make the crisis worse while saddling taxpayers with mountains of new debt.

Fortunately, just as students head back to school, a new bill called the Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act, or HERO, might be the fix.