Senate Democrats on Thursday called on the Republican majority to work with them on what they say is one of their top issues: a proposal that would make community college free and allow students to refinance their tuition debt at lower interest rates.
But the cost of the proposal is unlikely to attract GOP support.
No Republicans attended the Democrats’ “In the Red” event, meant to highlight the growing number of college graduates burdened by outstanding loans. Instead, Democrats were flanked by college-age students, including one who told reporters she was forced to resort to a crowdfunding website to come up with the money to pay for her tuition at Howard University in Washington D.C.
“Education should not be a privilege but rather a right,” Howard University student Gia Elyce said.
Democratic senators faulted the GOP for their refusal to take up any of the proposals, many of which have been introduced separately by Democrats over the past two years.
“We prefer that Republicans join us and we do it in a bipartisan way, but we won’t stop if they don’t,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, of New York, who is the number-three Democrat.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said lowering college costs for students is “one of the most important things we can do to make our economy grow from the bottm up.”
But the Democratic proposals come with a staggering price tag that the GOP has so far rejected.
President Obama last year introduced a plan in his fiscal 2016 budget to offer two years of free community college at a cost of nearly $1.4 billion for the first year and $60 billion over a decade. The Senate Democratic plan would also provide two years of free tuition at four-year colleges that serve minorities.
Another Democratic proposal would allow refinancing of high-interest student loans, which the GOP has also refused to take up. Critics of the refinancing proposal point out it would shift many of the now-private student loans to the federal government and taxpayers, who would then be on the hook for potentially heavy losses.
Democrats are also seeking to expand the value of Pell Grants by indexing the program to inflation, which would provide an additional $1,300 for each recipient by the 2026-2027 academic year.
Democrats say they are awaiting the Congressional Budget Office price tag for their plan, but pledged it would not add to the deficit.
The community college proposal, for example, would be covered by both the federal government and the states. Under the plan, the federal government would provide $3 for every $1 in state funding to waive community college tuition and fees for eligible students before financial aid kicks in. States would not be required to participate, however.
“The states, we hope, would all step forward to participate,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. “It does foresee a phasing in.”
Covering the cost of reducing student loan interest rates has in the past come with a tax increase to pay for it.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the chief sponsor of the plan, tried to attach it as an amendment to the budget bill last year but Republicans, then in the minority, blocked it. Warren’s plan called for increasing the tax on millionaires to at least 30 percent, a nonstarter with the GOP.
While Democrats stand little chance of moving their proposal while in the minority in Congress, they are angling to put themselves out front on the issue, which resonates with younger voters and has given the party a strong talking point ahead of the 2016 election.
Democratic presidential contender and Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced a $70 billion plan to provide students with four years of free tuition at public colleges and universities.
Sanders is also promoting Warren’s plan to lower student interest rates, which critics say is allowing the government to profit off of struggling college graduates. The plan would cost $75 billion a year and would be paid for with a half-percent tax on Wall Street transactions.
“We are here with the real ideas about how to bring down the cost of college for anyone who wants to work hard and play by the rules,” Warren said Thursday.
