During
this campaign, I’ve been talking a lot about what I see as the central
economic challenge of our time: raising incomes so hardworking families
can afford a middle-class life.
I
believe one of the single biggest ways we can raise incomes is by
making college affordable and available to every American. So today, I’m
laying out a plan to do just that.
Hillary’s dad Hugh, center, at Penn State.
For
millions of Americans, a college degree has been the ticket to a better
life. My grandfather worked his entire life in a lace mill, but my dad
made it to college. He was able to start his own small business, and
that made a huge difference in our lives. Then my parents saved for
years so they could send me to a school across the country. They knew
that they were setting me on the path to a better future.
College still holds that promise. A lot has changed in this country — but that hasn’t.
Parents
who never had the chance to go to college themselves dream of seeing
their kids get that degree, from the moment they’re born.
High-schoolers — even middle-schoolers — are taking college prep courses
and studying for the SAT. Full-time workers are taking courses online,
even if that means heading straight from an eight-hour shift to a pile
of homework. If that’s what it takes to get a better job — to give their
kids better than they had — then they’ll do it.
But
here’s the problem. States are slashing education budgets. Colleges
keep raising prices. In-state tuition and fees for public colleges
increased by 42 percent between 2004 and 2014. But incomes didn’t rise
by that much. So families are left facing a painful choice. Either they
say, “We just can’t afford it,” and pass up on all the opportunities
that a degree offers — or they do whatever it takes to pay for it, even
if that means going deeply into debt.
Now,
for most people, the return on investment of a college degree is still
worth it. On average, people with four-year degrees earn over half a
million dollars more over their careers than people with high school
degrees.
But student debt is
increasingly holding people back. Forty million Americans have student
loans. Together, they owe more than a trillion dollars. And millions of
Americans are delinquent or in default. Even if they do everything they
can to pay their loans, they just can’t keep up.
The
cost of this debt is real — not just on balance sheets, but in people’s
lives and futures. I’ve talked to people who have so much student debt,
they’ve put off buying a house, changing jobs, starting a
business — even getting married. I’ve met parents and grandparents
who’ve co-signed loans and end up draining their savings or ruining
their credit — all because they did what parents and grandparents are
supposed to do: help out the next generation.
There
are students who take out loans to pay for an expensive degree from a
for-profit institution — only to find little support once they actually
enroll, or they graduate and discover that, when it comes to finding a
job, their degree isn’t worth what they thought.
Then
there are the students who start college but never finish. They’re left
with debt and no degree to show for it — the worst of both worlds. Over
40 percent of college students still haven’t graduated after six
years — and many never do. It’s time to show some tough love to colleges
and universities that let significant numbers of students fall behind
and drop out, year after year.
Here’s
the bottom line: College is supposed to help people achieve their
dreams. But more and more, paying for college is actually pushing
people’s dreams further out of reach. And that’s just wrong. It’s a
betrayal of everything college is supposed to represent — and everything
families have worked so hard to achieve.
This
is also about America creating the greatest workforce in the world in
this century — just like we did in the last. The rest of the world is
working as hard as they can to out-do us. China plans to double the
number of students enrolled in college by 2030, which means they’ll have
nearly 200 million college graduates. That’s more than our entire
workforce. American workers can out-work and out-innovate anyone in the
world. They deserve training and education that will help them do it.
So
we need to make some big changes. We need to transform how much higher
education costs — and how those costs get paid. For too long, families
have been left to bear the burden of crushing costs, underinvestment,
and too little accountability.
It’s
time for a new college compact, where everyone does their part. We need
to make a quality education affordable and available to everyone
willing to work for it — without saddling them with decades of debt.
I’ve
been traveling the country for months, talking to students and
families, educators, legislators, and experts of every
stripe — including young progressive activists who’ve put the issue of
debt-free college and affordability at the top of the national agenda.
And
today, I’m announcing my plan to put college within reach for everyone.
We’re calling it the New College Compact. Here are the basics:
Under the New College Compact, no student should have to borrow to pay tuition at a public college.
Schools will have to control their costs and show more accountability to their students.
States will have to meet their obligation to invest in higher education.
The federal government will increase its investment in education, and won’t profit off student loans.
And millions with student debt will be able to refinance it at lower rates.
That’s
my plan. It’s ambitious — and we should be ambitious. But it’s also
achievable. And it would make a big difference in people’s lives.
The New College Compact comes down to two big goals.
First, we’ll make sure that cost won’t be a barrier.
Under
my plan, tuition will be affordable for every family. Students should
never have to take out a loan to pay for tuition at their state’s public
university. We’ll make sure the federal government and the states step
up to help pay the cost, so the burden doesn’t fall on families alone.
Of
course, these days, tuition isn’t enough. The cost of living at college
has also been creeping up. So under my plan, students who qualify for
Pell Grants will be able to use them for living expenses — and
middle-class students will get more help to cover their living expenses,
too.
We’re
also going to make community college free. That’s President Obama’s
plan and we’re making it ours. If students start at a community college
and transfer to a four-year school, we’ll make sure their credits count
and their transition is seamless. And we want more community colleges to
offer two-year degrees and certificate programs that are valued by
employers — so students know that, if they do the work, they’re in good
shape to get a good job.
We’re going to
work closely with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and
Hispanic-Serving Institutions, because they serve some of America’s
brightest students, who need the most support and too often have gotten
the least of it.
We’ll offer special
help to college students who are parents, because when you help parents
get an education, you’re helping their kids, too.
And
we’ll make a promise to students who perform national service. If
you’re willing to spend years tutoring America’s kids or cleaning up our
parks or helping communities hit by disasters, we’ll guarantee that you
can attend your public university or college debt-free.
So that’s the first big goal. Here’s the second: We’ll make sure that debt won’t hold anyone back.
For
the millions of Americans who already have student debt, my plan will
give you the chance to refinance at lower interest rates. If you can
refinance your mortgage or your car loan, you should be able to
refinance your student loan. It’s just wrong that people are locked into
college loans at 8, 9, even 10 percent.
If
you do end up taking out a loan — for example, to go to a private
college — we’ll cut your interest rates, so the government never makes a
profit off your loan.
We’ll make it
easier to enroll in income-based repayment programs, so you’ll never
have to pay more than 10 percent of what you make — and your debt will
only last for a fixed period of time. It won’t hang over your head
forever.
We’re going to help borrowers who are in default get back on their feet.
We’re
going to make sure colleges and universities have more skin in the
game. If they load students up with debt for programs that don’t lead to
good-paying jobs, it shouldn’t just be the students and taxpayers left
holding the bag. Colleges deserve some of the responsibility, too.
And
we’ll crack down on predatory schools, lenders and bill collectors. If
you defraud students, overcharge veterans, or mislead borrowers, we’re
going to do everything we can to stop you.
There’s
a lot more in my New College Compact — from strengthening the G.I.
Bill, so more veterans can get their degree, to making sure that
colleges spend federal dollars on things that benefit students, like
teaching and research — not marketing campaigns or big salaries for
administrators.
And we’re going to do a
lot to encourage innovation. Here’s one example. Workers are
increasingly rebooting their careers through online programs — yet many
students can’t use federal student aid to pay for them. If earning
online badges, specializations, or nano-degrees helps people improve
their job prospects, we should be making that option easier and more
affordable. Under my plan, more students will be allowed to use student
aid to pay for high-quality programs. And we’ll make sure that rules
about accreditation don’t keep out promising online education companies.
We want to keep quality high — without stifling innovation.
Now,
the reason I call this a College Compact is because it goes both ways.
Everyone’s going to have to step up to the plate. We can’t fix the
problem of rising costs and rising debt just by throwing more money at
the problem. We can’t expect the federal government to just pay the bill
for free. That’s not how America works. States will have to start
investing in education again. Colleges will have to do better by their
students. And Americans will have to work hard to put themselves through
school, and to out-learn and out-hustle our competitors — just like we
always have.
An
education shouldn’t be something just for those at the top. And it
shouldn’t be a burden. An education should be affordable — and
available — to everyone.
I
remember how proud my parents were when I graduated college. I remember
how proud Bill and I were to see Chelsea graduate — I’ll never forget
how grown-up she looked that day. And even though my new granddaughter
is already growing up faster than I’d like, I can’t wait to see her walk
across a stage someday and receive her diploma. And I know that mothers
and fathers and grandparents across the country feel the exact same
way.
I want every young
person in America to have their shot at that moment. I want every
hard-working parent out there to get the chance to see his or her child
cross a stage — or to cross it themselves. America should be a place
where those achievements are possible for anyone who’s willing to work
hard to do their part. That’s the country I want to help build — for
this generation and all the generations to come.
