By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Progressive lawmakers across the nation said they’d offer legislation in 10 states, including South Carolina, to seek debt-free college for students, a policy proposal that’s emerged in recent months as a top campaign issue in Democratic circles.
“I’m excited to see all three of our presidential candidates have made this an issue in their campaigns,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, an Orangeburg Democrat who introduced a resolution on the issue Thursday. It calls for the state legislature to pass a measure to tell Congress to enact legislation for debt-free college by boosting aid to state and students, and to reduce debt of current students.
While Democrats hope to capitalize on allowing students to graduate from public colleges and universities without debt, Republicans say, “Not so fast.”
The goal of making college more affordable has merit, said GOP state Rep. Jim Merrill of Daniel Island, who chairs the House Ways and Means subcommittee on higher education.
But he added, “I don’t totally think that is necessarily on the priority list of government functions right now.”
What Democrats want
Democrats say debt-free college is the answer to helping students get higher education because a post-secondary degree is almost required for future success in the U.S. labor market. Unfortunately as the nation’s middle class shrinks, the cost of a college degree is out of range for more Americans with a college education costing 250 percent more today than three decades ago.
Debt-free college means that students can graduate from all public colleges and universities with zero debt. It can be achieved through a variety of ways, including more federal aid to the states, more aid to students, and innovations that reduce college costs.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has made student debt a linchpin of her campaign, calling for a $350 million student debt reform plan that would make college accessible without loans. Clinton’s “New College Compact” calls for students to not have to borrow to pay for tuition, books and fees and to receive some living expenses. It would require families to help pay, but states and the federal government would have to pay more too. Additionally, students with current debt would be able to refinance loans and save money. Her plan would be paid for by “limiting certain tax expenditures for high-income taxpayers.”
Cobb-Hunter and other state leaders say debt-free college should be paid for through more federal aid to states to reduce tuition, more direct aid to students, increased accountability and cuts to underlying costs of college.
“A simple and progressive way to ensure these [tuition] costs can be covered would be to ensure tuition is covered at public institutions while still allowing students to access Pell Grants to cover non-tuition costs,” according to a proposal by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
[NEW, 12/11/15] U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who also is running for the Democratic nomination for president, lauded Cobb-Hunter’s bill in a statement today: “Crippling student debt prevents too many Americans from gaining access to higher education and burdens them for decades after they graduate. I urge the state legislature to act swiftly to help make the college dream a reality for all South Carolinians.”
GOP says it’s not time for South Carolina
But the devil is in the details, the GOP’s Merrill said.
“Many of the things they’re talking about just lead us down the road of greater government involvement in people ‘s live and dependency,” he said. “We have to look at a bunch of different things when it comes to higher education, not the least of which is the Utopian world that higher education lives in.
“It doesn’t have the checks and balances that exist in the private sector. That’s not a recipe for a good government program by any stretch of the imagination.”
S.C. GOP Chairman Matt Moore added, “College needs to be affordable and accessible for as many as possible, but nothing is truly ‘free.’ The money has to come from somewhere.
“But to an even bigger point, throwing more money at an already inefficient delivery system does nothing to incentivize innovation and quality. Our country is struggling with workforce preparedness, so we need solutions that increase preparedness and quality while not limiting access.”
GOP presidential candidates, who face voters in South Carolina on Feb. 20, haven’t jumped on the debt-free college bandwagon.
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, for example, criticized the proposal as a “typical liberal approach.” While he said Congress should expand financial aid programs for low-income students and perhaps consider tax credits for donors to higher education organizations, students who want to go to college have to “take personal responsibility to grasp the opportunities in higher education.”
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
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