Since the beginning of election season, higher education has been at the forefront of the national conversation with candidates putting forth plans of varying ambition to address skyrocketing student loan debt, high tuitions and stubborn equity gaps.
Coming to the end of a long, winnowing process, only two Democratic presidential candidates remain, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. Their plans for higher education policy differ in clarity and breadth, experts say, at a time when higher education policy may be more critical to voters than ever, as universities, their students and graduates prepare for an economy impacted by the coronavirus.
Famous for his stance on free college, Sanders’ plan puts $48 billion per year toward removing all tuition and fees at community colleges, public four-year colleges, trade schools, apprenticeships and tribal colleges. Low-income students would be free to use Pell grants for other costs like transportation, food, textbooks and housing.
Biden’s plan also proposes providing two years of community college tuition-free for students, and in March, he joined Sanders in proposing free public four-year college, as well, specifically for families with incomes below $125,000 a year. He would also double the maximum Pell grant. Both free college plans rely on federal-state partnerships.
Despite criticism, Biden’s most recent proposal is “pretty generous,” said Wesley Whistle, senior advisor for policy and strategy at New America’s higher education program. He pointed out that the plan covers a wide swath of people, given the median family income is below $125,000 – about $61,937 a year, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
On the free college debate, the candidates diverge, but “I think one of the things people miss is they’re actually not that far apart,” Whistle said.
There’s a wider divide, however, between the two candidates on how to respond to the student debt crisis.
