US Democrat presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have announced their intention to make public college free for everyone.
The Vermont senator and Elizabeth Warren proposed eliminating tuition at public colleges and universities while expanding Pell Grants, which provide financial support to low-income students that, can be used for nontuition expenses.
Both presidential candidates also call for a government bailout of all student loan debt.
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind, has disagreed with Warren and Sanders’ proposal, demanding an income limit, instead.
Buttigieg criticized the idea of universal free college plans because the wealthy stand to gain more.
Although Warren and Sanders agree on providing tuition-free education, they have also disagreed on ways to implement their proposal.
Sanders’ proposal would make two- and four-year public and tribal colleges and universities tuition-free and debt-free, and erase the roughly $1.6 trillion in student loan debt currently owed in the US.
The proposal would cost $2.2 trillion over ten years, which Sanders says would be paid for by a tax on Wall Street.
While Senator Warren’s free college proposal is alike and also provide broad debt relief, hers caps it for households with incomes over $250,000.
Warren also said her proposed wealth tax would fund her plan.
Buttigieg proposed to make public college education tuition-free only for families earning up to $100,000 annually while offering reduced tuition on a sliding scale to households earning between $100,000 and $150,000.
Also, presidential candidates such as Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and former Vice President Joe Biden, have both spoken out against free four-year college. Biden has proposed free tuition at two-year community colleges but would not eliminate tuition at four-year institutions.
Who benefits?
The idea of colleges and universities tuition and debt-free has been criticized by many. They argue that the scheme would benefit the rich instead of the poor and middle-class students who need help the most.
According to Buttigieg, the idea of universal free college plans on the grounds that they would make higher education free even for the kids of millionaires.
New Pete ad in Iowa taking aim at Warren and Bernie over college affordability/debt (but not by name), arguing they’d alienate half the country by insisting it be “free even for the kids of millionaires”. H/t @McCormickJohn
pic.twitter.com/SEAcOdHcAq— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) November 29, 2019
He claims that while the universal plan seems progressive, it is regressive, as it would cost more on lower-income Americans.
US Expert opinion
Education experts have also condemned the idea stating, higher education is a major US export, a reality that presidential candidates canvassing for free public college have overlooked.
According to them, both Democratic candidates’ plans pose a risk to international trade in education, imploring them not to rush into enacting a free college system.
Economists and politicians have also disagreed whether any given tax-the-rich plan would generate enough revenue to cover the full array of social and economic programs that candidates like Sanders and Warren have proposed.
