One trillion dollars; the estimated total of student loan debt in the United States. $25,000; the average student loan debt that a typical American student will graduate with this year. The American student is facing one of the darkest times he or she has ever known and even though having a well-educated and skilled workforce is critical to the U.S. economy’s recovery, the Republican Congress led by Speaker Boehner has no solutions, no relief, and no promise of any action; refusing to engage in constructive discussions to help students struggling to pay their loans.

The President however, has decided to do everything within his power to help the American people.

At the heart of the issue, President Obama’s push to alleviate the loan crisis facing students is not about what he can do, but rather what Congress is either unwilling or incapable of accomplishing. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have both made it clear that their most important goal is not ensuring America succeeds, but instead, that the President fails. The President has repeatedly made overtures with pragmatic policies. From the discussions on the debt ceiling where spending cuts were offered for revenue increases on a 3 to 1 ratio to a willingness to discuss entitlement reform, President Obama has demonstrated a commitment to bipartisan policy-making that has fallen on deaf ears.

So, the President’s executive order is not the definitive event to solve the looming student loan crisis, it was never intended to do so. It is the first step and a very important beginning to a much broader dialogue that needs to involve Congress, the White House, and the millions of Americans that are already in debt or who are being discouraged from pursuing higher education. According to the Atlantic, the President’s plan will help those average Americans that make less than $45,000 dollars. This means that close to half of all graduates could qualify for the program. Furthermore, the Atlantic says that the program cannot eliminate the burden of student loans but instead, “it intends to help those with lots of student loans who either have a low income after school during their early years or have a relatively low income throughout their career.” Now that’s a plan that all Americans should be able to get behind as we continue to demand real legislative solutions from Speaker Boehner’s do-nothing Congress.

Mr. Schriver is right about one thing in his recent piece however: the skyrocketing cost of education is a very real problem; a problem that weakens our human capital development, a problem that makes America less competitive in the global economy, a problem that threatens the long-term prospects of the American dream. It is the partisan gridlock on Capitol Hill, actively encouraged by the likes of McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor, that is directly impeding a comprehensive overall of the student loan system.  Because as President Obama stated in his recent op-ed to the student newspapers of University of Texas, California State University-Fresno, Texas Tech University, and Harvard, “here in America, when we find a problem, we fix it. When we face a challenge, we meet it. We don’t wait.” The American people can’t afford to wait, the American dream can’t afford to be postponed, the promise of a better tomorrow can’t afford to be held back any longer by a Congress set on filibustering for partisan gain.

- Jonathan Padilla is a senior at Harvard College and Treasurer of the Young Democrats of America.

- Adan Acevedo is a junior at Harvard College and Events Director of the Harvard College Democrats.