Although she supports making college “debt-free,” Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she would expect students not to freeload off her college affordability plan.
Bernie Sanders accused the Democratic presidential front-runner of endorsing too complex a plan on higher education reform and student debt reduction during Tuesday night’s Democratic debate.
“We don’t need a complicated system, which the secretary is talking about — income goes up … if you’re poor, you have to work, and so forth and so on,” Sanders said, adding that his plan to eliminate tuition at public colleges and universities altogether would be paid for through a “Wall Street speculation tax.”
“Well, let me address college affordability, because I have a plan that I think will really zero in on what the problems are,” Clinton retorted.
“First, all the 40 million Americans who currently have student debt would be able to refinance their debt to a low interest rate. I will save thousands of dollars for people who are now struggling under this cumbersome, burdensome college debt,” she said.
The former secretary of state continued, “My plan would enable anyone to go to a public college or university tuition free; they would not have to borrow money for tuition.”
“But I do believe — and maybe it’s because I worked when I went to college [and] I worked when I went to law school — for everybody to have some part of getting this accomplished,” she added.
Clinton said she would like college students to put in 10 hours a week of work “in order to make it possible for them to afford their education.”
According to her campaign, Clinton’s college affordability plan costs roughly $350 billion financed over the next 10 years. The former first lady has said she would increase taxes on wealthy Americans to help cover the costs associated with her plan.
