Sanders’s newest College for All Act, briefly explained

Here’s how Sanders’s College for All Act would work:
The federal government would give states and tribes at least $48 billion per year, through a two-to-one federal dollar match program, if states commit to eliminating tuitions and fees at public universities and colleges.

To receive the federal funding, states and tribes would have to meet some requirements: Essentially, they’d have to show the Department of Education that they will maintain higher education and need-based financial aid funding and rely less on adjunct faculty to teach classes. States and tribes would also have to show that they can cover the full cost of higher education for the poorest families, those who earn less than $25,000. For tribal colleges with at least 75 percent low-income student enrollment — students eligible for the Pell Grant — the federal government would cover 95 percent of costs to eliminate tuition and fees.

The federal funding has restrictions: It cannot go to administrators’ salaries, any merit-based financial aid, or non-academic buildings like shiny new football stadiums.

While this is a universal program — students from any financial background would benefit from the elimination of tuition — the proposal specifically targets lower-income students by increasing the federal Pell Grant program, tripling funding for the work-study program, and creating a dollar-for-dollar federal match to states to eliminate additional costs related to going to college.

HBCUs and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) would also qualify for this federal funding. Sanders’s proposal allocates $1.3 billion per year to reduce tuition and fees at private nonprofit universities and colleges with at least 35 percent of students from low-income households. Roughly 200 institutions would be eligible, Sanders’s office said.


A supporter of Sanders’s free college proposal at Eastern Michigan University on February 15, 2016. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

The proposal also caps student loan interest rates to the same rate the federal government pays for its debt.
All told, this bill, introduced with progressive Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), is a more expansive version of Sanders’s original 2016 free college proposal. What was originally a tuition-free proposal with a provision for refinancing student loans has become a debt-free and tuition-free proposal.

It’s a clear departure from the free college plan that Clinton proposed and Sanders endorsed as the 2017 College for All Act. That bill would have eliminated tuition and fees for families making up to $125,000, conceding to Clinton’s argument that the government shouldn’t have to cover costs for families who can afford to send their kids to college.

There are several Democratic candidates in the field right now who share those concerns, but Sanders is no longer heeding them. . .

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...dent-loan-debt