Democratic Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has a plan to address the student loan crisis, that is holding back our economy and crushing thousands of American families.
“We got into this crisis, because State governments and the Federal government decided that, instead of treating higher education like our public school system–free and accessible to all Americans–that they’d rather cut taxes for billionaires and giant corporations and offload the cost of higher education onto students and their families,” Warren said. “The student debt crisis is the direct result of this failed experiment.”
Warren will address the student loan crisis by canceling up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans. Her plan is designed to narrow the racial wealth gap, while providing broad relief to 95 percent of people with student loan debt. Her plan wipes out student loan debt entirely for more than 75 percent of the Americans with student loan debt. It substantially increases wealth for Black and Latinx families and reduces both the Black-White and Latinx-White wealth gaps.
Warren’s plan would also make sure this crisis never happens again. Her plan includes making post-high school education free–whether at public technical school, community college, or four-year public college.
Warren’s plan also
- invests an additional $100 billion to expand Pell Grants to help cover non-tuition costs
- creates a minimum $50 billion fund for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions
- allows student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy
- bans for-profit colleges from receiving Federal dollars
- prohibits public colleges from considering citizenship status or criminal history in admissions decisions.
As President, Warren will take action to start canceling student loan debt on day one of her Presidency, using the power granted to the Department of Education under the Higher Education Act.
She pays for these changes with her “ultra-millionaire tax,” an annual tax on wealth. The ultra-millionaire tax would raise $3.75 trillion over the next ten years, by taxing only those households with a net worth of $50 million or more, roughly the top 0.1%.
When combined with Warren’s plans for universal child care and affordable housing, this proposal would transform economic opportunity and quality-of-life for millions of Americans, including Illinoisans.
Learn more about her plans at www.elizabethwarren.com/plans.