Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bennet promised to make four-year public colleges debt-free and community college totally free for all.
Bennet, who released his education plan on Thursday, proposed a roadmap of overhauling the education system in the country.
The plan promises to provide federal funding to community colleges to cover the cost of tuition, which in turn will allow students to use Pell grants and other financial aid toward their remaining expenses.
Students from families that earn about $75,000 will receive increased support through Pell grants and other aid programs, while the federal government will work with states to make higher education affordable and accessible for all.
The proposal calls to tackle student loan debt by forgiving student loans after 20 years for people who have successfully made payments on time while capping payments at 8 percent of income, which is a 20 percent reduction in income-based student loan payments from current law.
Those graduates who are public servants, teachers, OB-GYNs, nurses, or primary care physicians in rural areas or high-poverty urban communities will get $10,000 student loan forgiveness for up to four years.
Colleges that leave students with poor skills will have more federal oversight and can be denied Pell grants, student loans, and other federal support.
Over the last few months, other candidates who are eyeing the Democratic presidential nomination have also released their education policy plans. Pete Buttigieg proposed creating a federal partnership that will make public tuition affordable for all and completely free for those from lower-income households.
Julián Castro proposed eliminating tuition at public colleges, universities, community colleges, and technical and vocational schools, as well as investing $3 billion per year to provide financial support for low-income students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions.
A recent survey found that more than half of the Americans support policy proposals of making public four-year colleges and two-year colleges tuition-free. The support for the policy proposal is mostly found among Democrats, whereas Republicans are most likely to oppose
