Elizabeth Warren Wants To Help Student In Debt

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running for President in a crowded Democratic primary field, just unveiled her plan to cancel college debt and make higher education free for most Americans. Warren’s plan would forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt for households making less than $100,000 a year, which Warren says is 95% of American households. She also wants to increase federal spending on higher education in order to phase out tuition at two- and four-year colleges.

Like all savvy politicians these days, Warren explained her plan on–where else?–Twitter.

“I was able to get a quality, public education for just $50 a semester. That kind of opportunity is virtually impossible to find today. As states have invested less in community colleges and public four-year colleges, schools have raised tuition and fees to make up the gap,” Warren tweeted. “That’s why I’m proposing a historic new federal investment in public higher education that will eliminate the cost of tuition and fees at every public two-year and four-year college in America, plus an additional $100 billion investment in Pell Grants.”

Warren is not only calling for free college but for the elimination of what she calls “artificial barriers” to the admission that disproportionately affect low-income students.

“Student loan debt is crushing millions of families. That’s why I’m calling for something truly transformational: Universal free college and the cancellation of debt for more than 95% of Americans with student loan debt,” she tweeted. “My plan will dedicate $100 billion in new funding to help students cover non-tuition expenses at public colleges—a barrier that disproportionately affects lower-income students and students of color—to make zero debt at graduation a reality for everyone. We’ll knock down artificial barriers to enrollment by prohibiting public colleges from considering citizenship status or criminal history in admissions decisions.”

Other Democratic candidates for president, including Bernie Sanders, have campaigned on making college education free. However, Warren says her plan “goes further” than any other candidate’s.