[ad_1]
“Anybody in here have student loan debt? Anybody in here know someone with student loan debt? Okay, I think we got almost everybody,” the Massachusetts Democrat said.
The calculator, she added, is “a way to make real to people what it means to talk about student loan debt cancellation.”
Warren’s plan would cancel up to $50,000 in student debt for anyone from households earning less than $100,000 a year. For those Americans, the calculation is simple.
But the amount of relief gets gradually smaller as income level goes up. Households that make more than $250,000 would not be eligible for any debt relief.
Warren is also proposing to make tuition free at public two- and four-year college for all students, regardless of their family’s income. She wants to increase federal funding for Pell grants, which are awarded to low-income families, as well as invest more money in historically black colleges and universities. The senator also is calling for a ban on for-profit colleges receiving any federal funding.
Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York — along with Warren — are all co-sponsors of Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz’s Debt-Free College Act. It would establish a matching grant to states that commit to helping students pay for the full cost of attendance without taking out loans.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who helped bring the idea mainstream during his 2016 presidential bid, has introduced his own bill which would make tuition and fees free at public colleges for students whose families earn less than $125,000.
But other candidates — including Sen. Amy Klobuchar and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — have stopped short of embracing a free-college platform.
CNN’s Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link