Hillary Clinton will roll out a multibillion dollar plan to limit tuition costs and reduce debt on Monday afternoon, weeks after her progressive opponents presented similar comprehensive college payment plans.
Her “New College Compact” holds a $350 billion price tag over the course of 10 years, and will be “fully paid for” by “closing tax loopholes and expenditures” for those in the highest earning tax brackets.
The plan involves federal investments in higher education at the state level as well as more state dollars being put towards higher education. State universities will be “accountable to improve their outcomes and control their costs,” and families will be made to contribute to their child’s education based on a formula of how much money they earn. Finally, all students on the program will work 10 hours a week while in school to contribute to their education.
Clinton has positioned herself as a fighter for young people the less fortunate throughout her campaign, and mentioned easier access to higher education in her June 13 campaign launch in New York, but she has waited two months to lay out the more detailed policy platform. Clinton released a vide promoting her education plan.
“Imagine what is possible in America if we tackle the runaway costs of higher education,” Clinton said in an early outline of the plan obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Families that can send their sons and daughters to college, graduates who can buy homes and start businesses without being held back by loans, and student parents who can balance the costs of quality child care with returning to school.”
Democratic primary opponents Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have already come out with plans to deal with education costs. In May, Sanders introduced a Senate bill which would give $47 billion per year to states that agree to eliminate undergraduate tuition and public colleges and universities. Sanders plans to pay for this with what he calls a “Robin Hood tax on Wall Street,” taking money from the wealthiest in the financial industry, and pouring it into higher education.
O’Malley rolled out his debt-free tuition plan in July, calling on states to freeze tuition rates at public colleges and universities and allowing students to refinance their debts at lower interest rates. Under the former Maryland governor’s plan, students would repay their debt based on their income after graduation and tuition would be set to 10 percent of the state’s median income at 10 year institutions.
Clinton will detail her plan further during a Monday afternoon speech in Exeter, New Hampshire, during a two-day tour of the state to talk about higher education and the growing $1.2 billion national student debt.
