The Democratic National Committee released a draft of its party platform on Friday, including calls for free community college, refinancing loans for indebted student borrowers, and more job opportunities for young people.
In one of many shots taken at Republican front-runner Donald Trump, the DNC also used the defunct Trump University as an example of why for-profit schools must be scrutinized and the Obama administration’s gainful employment rule should be strengthened.
The draft lacks specific details on how most of these higher education priorities will be achieved, but promises “bold new investments by the federal government,” and “a dedicated fund of tens of billions of dollars” for historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.
“Democrats believe that if you are an American who wants to get an education, you should always be able to get one: money should never stand in the way,” the draft reads.
The DNC platform is roughly aligned with the policies of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. It pledges to cut interest rates for federal student loans and expand access to income-based repayment plans. It does not include anything about free tuition at public colleges and universities — the proposal championed by Clinton’s opponent Bernie Sanders, who has yet to officially drop out of the race.
Although Sanders has undoubtedly succeeded in pushing the DNC’s agenda further to the left, he has continued to object to several parts of the platform that don’t go as far as he would like on the minimum wage, single-payer healthcare, trade, climate change, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I am glad that we have won some very important provisions in the platform drafting process so far, but much more needs to be done,” Sanders said in a statement.
The draft now goes to the Platform Committee for final approval and Democrats will adopt the official policy agenda at the nominating convention later this month.
