Hillary Clinton embraces some ‘free college’ ideas championed by Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders riled up young voters on the campaign trail with promises of free college. Now, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is taking a p
age from his book, expanding her own college affordability plan to make four-year college free for a large share of American families.
Under the new plan, students from families earning $85,000 a year or less will be able to attend a four-year public college or university tuition free. Every year that threshold will rise by $10,000 so that by 2021, students from families earning $125,000 or less will be able to attend college tuition free under Clinton’s plan.
The announcement is the latest indication that Clinton is using college affordability as a way to differentiate herself from her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, and to attract the young voters Sanders galvanized during the primary and who see this as a key issue. Clinton announced last week that she would offer student debt forgiveness to young entrepreneurs — a plan that was met with cynicism by some critics who claimed it would disproportionately benefit already privileged young people.
In addition to the tuition component, Clinton said Wednesday that if elected president she would use an executive action to put a three month moratorium on student loan payments for all federal student loan borrowers. During that time, the Department of Education would work with borrowers to help them find the best payment plan for their needs. The government offers a slew of programs that allow borrowers to make student loan payments tied to their income, but officials havestruggled to get borrowers to take advantage of them.
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