Some presidential candidates' critiques promote unhelpful assumptions about who tuition-free and debt-free college would actually serve. (Spoiler: it's not millionaires and billionaires.)
The idea of canceling student debt has become a topic of considerable debate. Here's what you need to know about the Warren and Sanders student debt plans and what still needs to be answered.
Senator Elizabeth Warren just unveiled the first plan of the 2020 election cycle that comprehensively addresses both college affordability and student loan debt simultaneously.
Rather than excluding students, progressive states like New Jersey have an opportunity to lead and expand the universe of the possible on issues like free college.
While some fairly valuable tax breaks for students have been kept from the chopping block, the Senate GOP’s tax bill could go a long way toward decimating funding for public colleges and universities, and community colleges in particular.
To summarize, the House Republican tax plan would get rid of several incentives—from the ability to deduct student loan interest as well as tuition, to the Lifetime Learning tax credit—which provide middle-class students and borrowers with some relief at tax time.
The top three economic issues for young people are debt-free public college, paid family and medical leave and a higher minimum wage (followed closely by affordable childcare).
It's time to recognize that in a world where most students must borrow for a credential, borrowers should receive the same failsafe protections on these loans as they do on any other consumer loan.
New York became the first state in the country to return to a guarantee of tuition-free college for students at state public colleges and universities.
With so many eventual graduates starting at community colleges, we should take a hard look at institutional aid policies, which reward incoming freshmen much more than transfer students.
We’ve created our own bracket here, matching up colleges not by the number of McDonald’s High School All-Americans on their roster, but by whether or not they provide access to an affordable education and whether they are engines of upward mobility for working-class students.
The editorial makes the case that we have more of a nuisance than a crisis on our hands. It misunderstands the entire point behind the push for debt-free public college.
Now more than ever, our progressive movement needs real leaders who are equipped with the skills, fortitude, and vision to meet the political and economic challenges we face as a nation. For nearly four decades, the United States Student Association (USSA) has fostered this leadership.