Costs won't be a barrier. Debt won't hold you back.
Imagine
what is possible in America if we tackle the runaway costs of higher
education, make sure that students who start college can finish with a
degree, and relieve the crushing burden of student debt: 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. We will see incomes rise and ensure Americans get ahead and
stay ahead.
Today, Hillary Clinton released a plan to get us
there. Her plan is a New College Compact. Students and families are
ready to do their part. Everyone else – the federal government, states,
and colleges and universities – needs to step up and do theirs.
The bottom line of the New College Compact for every student and every family is this: Costs won't be a barrier
Students
wshould never have to borrow to pay for tuition, books, and fees to
attend a 4-year public college in their state under the New College
Compact. The additional support they receive will reduce all costs,
including living expenses, by thousands of dollars. Students at
community college will receive free tuition. Students will have to do
their part by contributing their earnings from working 10 hours a week.
Families will do their part by making an affordable and realistic family contribution.
States
will have to step up and meet their obligation to invest in higher
education by maintaining current levels of higher education funding and
reinvesting over time.
The Federal government will make a major new investment in the New College Compact and will never again profit off student loans for college students.
Colleges and universities
will be accountable to improve their outcomes and control their costs
to make sure their tuition is affordable and that students who invest in
college leave with a degree.
And we will encourage innovators
who design imaginative new ways of providing a valuable college
education to students – while cracking down on abusive practices that
burden students with debt without value.
Debt won't hold you back
If
you have student debt, you will be able to refinance your loans at
current rates, with an estimated 25 million borrowers receiving debt
relief. Typical borrowers could save $2,000 over the life of their
loans.
For future undergraduates, the plan will significantly
cut interest rates so they reflect the government's low cost of debt.
This can save students hundreds or thousands of dollars over the life of
their loans.
Everyone will be able to enroll in a simplified
income based repayment program so that borrowers never have to pay more
than 10 percent of what they make.
Fully paid for:
This
plan will cost in the range of $350 billion over 10 years – and will be
fully paid for by limiting certain tax expenditures for high-income
taxpayers.
