In this Forbes article, I argue for a simple, commonsensical fix to our wasteful system of financial aid. By combining merit and need criteria, rather than having aid programs based on criteria of pure need (such as Pell Grants) or pure merit (such as Georgia’s Hope Scholarships), we could cut a lot of expense, waste, redistribution, and bad incentivizing. Obviously, there are lots of people who will hate the idea, particularly entrenched interests, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about doing it.

Also, I accept any abuse hurled my way for the title of this blog post.