Michael Bloomberg Introduces Plan for Free College and Student Debt Forgiveness
“proposal doesn’t go quite as far as some of his Democratic rivals”
You can’t run as a Democrat these days without a plan like this.
FOX Business reports:
Bloomberg rolls out $700B plan for tuition-free college, student debt forgiveness
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg unveiled a $700 billion higher education plan Tuesday that calls for tuition-free community college and erasing student loan debt for some low-income borrowers.
The three-time New York City mayor’s plan would dramatically increase federal spending on higher education, including expanding subsidies like Pell grants and SNAP benefits to low-income students, his campaign said in the plan.
Bloomber’s proposal doesn’t go quite as far as some of his Democratic rivals, like progressive senators, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who support wide-scale student debt forgiveness and want to eliminate tuition at public, four-year universities.
Instead, Bloomberg would make community colleges tuition-free for all students, a common theme among primary contenders. He went a step further and called for making community colleges “debt free” for low-income students, meaning students would not have to take out loans for costs like books, food and transportation. That option would be available to families that earn less than $30,000 a year on average. The plan would do the same at four-year universities for low-income students.
The Republican-turned-Democrat said he would accomplish that goal by doubling the maximum Pell grant award to $12,960, and helping more students qualify for the need-based financial aid, which does not have to be repaid unlike a traditional student loan. He also vowed to create a federal-state match partnership to boost states’ investments in higher ed.
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He promised soft drinks in the water fountains when he ran for class president at Restricted N. Pricey Academy.
“students would not have to take out loans for costs like books, food and transportation.”
One could only wonder where this would go. The basic problem at most community colleges is that many attend (often for many years) yet few graduate. So, although the nominal tuition is low, the cost to the public per graduate produced can be quite high.
Perhaps initially there’d be a time limit to earn a credential, but whatever limits were set would be countered by hard-luck stories until the benefit became limitless. Could “students” live on something like this for twenty years or more? I’d guess that might be the end-state.
Whereas the real solution is not endless free-to-me “education” and support, but an end to the credentialism that requires a credential for just about everything.
Yet ending credentialism would require a retrenchment on disparate-impact law, as employers would be less likely to demand a credential if they could just rigorously test job candidates without risking ruinous litigation.
But that’s not likely to change, is it? Further, “free college (practically) forever” supports that ever-growing higher-ed. apparat, even (especially) as it ascends ever-higher into the realms of higher politics, far, far removed from any knowledge that can be objectively determined to be either true or false.
Which presumably serves the purpose of guaranteeing an income stream to many reliably Democratic supporters.
He’s self-funding this plan just like his campaign right? Gotta love how these national-level putzes spout all these plans for state-run colleges & universities…
Mini Mike, Comrade Bernie and all the others know the key to campaigning…It’s easy to promise “Free Stuff” when:
A) You’re promising to spend someone else’s money;
B) You know the required legislation won’t make it through Congress;
C) Essentially, you know you’re never going to have to actually deliver.
Pell Grants have for many decades provided cost free education to low income individuals who are classified as residents of the community college’s jurisdiction. The problem does not focus on cost, but rather, community college students equipped with the intellectual and academic training necessary to succeed in college.
Tucker Carlson pretty well covers all the DIMS crap plans and ideas about “Free” Brainwashings……er…..college….. in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iruf0Qc7saw
When you steal from Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul.
Simple vote buying.
My plan is simple. Get a job, make payments, and at some point the debt will be gone. A very similar plan can be used to own a house. This has worked well for generations, so I am not sure why it needs to be changed.