Loan refinancing, grants key to Clinton’s college affordability plan

Earlier this week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveiled an initiative that aims to combat the rising costs of college tuition and that would also give billions of dollars in funding to HBCUs.

As economist Richard Vedder wrote in 2012, the enrollment inflation spawned by expanding federal student aid programs has “added to the growing disconnect between labor market realities and student job expectations, creating armies of college graduates who are bartenders, taxi drivers, etc”.

Clinton will speak about her plan, which for progressives is a litmus test, at her campaign stops Monday afternoon and Tuesday while in New Hampshire.

Her plan would increase funding for a program that extends grants to campus-based child care centers from $15 million to $250 million.

Scholarship Tax Relief for Students Act: This bill would fully exempt Pell Grants and scholarships from income taxes, giving back $200 million annually to students and their families to help pay for college, according to Kildee.

Under Clinton’s plan, state governments, higher education institutions and students would play roles alongside the federal government in addressing the affordability of higher education and the debt that can come from it. Just 19 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, according to Gallup.

Brian Cohn, a student at Brown University, says Clinton’s plan is more nuanced compared to other presidential candidates. She wants to target for-profit colleges for abusing federal funding, but appears oblivious to the idea that similar incentives manifest in similar results in public colleges. The plan would allow them to refinance their student loan balances at lower interest rates, providing on average a savings of $2,000 over a 10 year period. About 150 schools now receive four-year awards that average $100,000 a year.

Her plan would achieve those goals primarily by helping students attend in-state colleges and universities without taking out loans.

Robert LeFevre, president of the association of Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities, said the discussions are important to show the importance of financial aid for students.

The campaign said that only about one-third of student parents attain a college degree or certificate within six years of enrollment, compared with 59 percent of the total student population. First, it shifts the responsibility for paying for a college education from students and parents to taxpayers at large.

Republicans, including Lamar Alexander the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, have argued public college tuitions are for the most part very affordable.