College debt is an inescapable reality for millions of Americans. With the new election season approaching, will we see a solution?
For Jacki Walburn, there were two types of people: those who could go to college, and those who could not. The Ball State University senior always considered herself one of the could nots.
Walburn grew up the daughter of a janitor. Going through school, college was something with a daunting price tag that was never really part of her plan. It wasn’t until her later years of high school that this all changed and the decision to come to Ball State University was made. Prior to coming to BSU, Walburn hadn’t considered the idea of free college as a possibility.
Jacki worked hard in high school, and was doing really well in her math class. It caught her teacher’s attention, and one day he approached her.
Hey, what are you gonna study? he asked. What are you gonna do in college?
These words struck a match in the prospective student. Having struggled with not only her financial status but her confidence in her ability to achieve in school, this opened her eyes to an option she hadn’t thought she was capable of pursuing. Pushing to aim higher and work harder, Walburn set her sights on college.
For her remaining time in high school, she did everything she could to earn the scholarships needed to help her continue down this new avenue in life. She knew without these scholarships or acceptance to an in-state school that higher education wouldn’t be in the cards.
Walburn isn’t alone in this regard. For many, college seems to be something that is unattainable. A report filed by the National School Board Association found that 23% of students said the biggest factor that influenced their decision to not go to college was money — more specifically, a lack of money. This issue has been a driving factor for presidential candidates both in past and current elections seasons.
Living in an age where such an overwhelming amount of money is being placed on the shoulders of millions, for many the option of free college seems to be the best solution. With presidential candidates like Elizabeth Warren addressing these concerns with their policy plans, the possibility of free college seems more attainable each day.
Jacki is a member of the Ball State Democrats club and a long-time supporter of Elizabeth Warren. She says she loves the idea of Warren’s free college plan.
“All of the policies that she plans to implement with the 2-cent tax are wonderful and super progressive, and I know they delve really specifically into underprivileged communities and how to support them,” she says. “So that’s something that excites me.”.
As someone who had a rather unconventional college start herself, one of Warren’s main policy plans is aimed at creating a system of free college. To make this achievable, Warren has devised two key steps to her plan.
Step 1: Broad Debt Cancellation
This first step would include the elimination of college debt for almost 95% of those with college loan debt. It would total at nearly 45 million Americans. This would come to a grand total of $50,000 in debt cancellation per person for 42 million Americans. The high cancellation of $50,000 for those who borrowed money through student loans would apply to those making less than $100,000 a year.
However, incomes ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 would not be left hanging. Instead, there would exist a ratio of $1 cancelled for each $3 of income earned for those with over $100,000 in annual income.
Because of this extensive coverage, roughly 75% of the Americans with student loan debt would in fact become completely debt free. However, those earning $250,000 or more each year would not be allowed this cancellation. Warren predicts that by doing this, the wealth of many minority families will increase along with boosting economic growth.
After this act of debt cancellation for those with previously existing debt, Warren plans to prevent these amounts of debt from accumulating again in the future. This would include allowing Americans to attend 2-year and 4-year colleges free of fees and tuition, while also making higher education more easily accessible to different minority groups.
In order to get the amount of money needed for this policy, Warren plans to implement her “Ultra-Millionaire Tax.” This is a 2% annual tax on families with equal to or more than $50 million in wealth. By doing this, the total amount of someone’s assets are taken into consideration rather than just what they make in a certain time frame.
Step 2: Investing in Higher Education and Addressing Inequalities
In order to prevent another situation like the one we are living in today, Warren aims to make higher education financially accessible by directing funds to cover the cost of non-tuition amenities, like room and board. Warren estimates this will take a 10-year investment of $100 billion in Pell Grants, along with an expansion of who is able to receive Pell Grants.
A Pell Grant is a grant awarded by the federal government to help cover the amount of post-secondary education. A person becomes eligible for a Pell Grant once they complete their FAFSA. After that, many factors determine how much money one gets, if any, through the grant.
These factors include how much contribution is expected to come from the student’s family, how much it costs to attend the expected university, whether the student is full time or part time, and whether they are spending a year or less at school. This grant aims to impact students with higher economic needs. By increasing how much money goes towards the Pell Grant and expanding who can receive it, in theory this would allow more people than before to be able to get help for college.
The second part of Warren’s plan involves providing financial assistance to minority groups in college. A fund for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions with a minimum amount of $50 billion will be created.
This process will also come with an increase of federal funding becoming available to the states which show improvements in minority and low-income student graduation rates and enrollment, a ban on for-profit colleges and annual audits from public colleges to display any issues that may be preventing higher graduation rates from students with lower incomes.
Lastly, Warren would eliminate the consideration of a student’s citizenship from the application process. Though non-U.S. citizens are still legally able to apply to most colleges and universities, there is very little financial aid available to those without documentation of temporary or permanent residency in the United States. By including this question of a student’s citizenship in the application process, colleges can then determine what aid the student can receive.
While there are many supporters of Warren’s plan to push forward with free college, there are others who are hesitant to jump on board.
Take Ball State Republican Club’s chairman Gaven Schulz for instance. For Gaven, his concerns lie with the shortening gap between those with college diplomas and those without. Instead of placing focus on lowering or eliminating the cost of a traditional 2-year or 4-year college, he advocates for a higher influence on trade schools.
“It’s because we have so many people going to college, so many people trying to go into these professions, and a lot of people feel that it’s the only way to make a living,” Gaven says. “And so we need to open up to high school students that there’s other things you can do other than going to college.”
Another voice of concern comes from Ball State assistant political science professor Chad Kinsella.
Like many others, one of Kinsella’s main worries is money. Similar to the financial constraints that are surfacing in public schools throughout the country, universities have not been spared of these numerous budget cuts that are taking place in education, according to Kinsella.
He says that with the serious lack of funding going to the states, universities have drawn the short straw. Cuts to funding for colleges have increased anywhere from 20-50%.
Kinsella says that the lack of state funding has largely contributed to the rise in college tuition. With this funding to the states decreasing as the influx of students has continued to rise, a once attainable price has skyrocketed in order to keep colleges afloat.
“If funding is down and spending is up, somebody’s gotta pay,” he says.
And unfortunately, this responsibility has come down to the student and their family.
Still living with his own college loan debt, Kinsella is aware of the effects debt can have on one’s life. He says it’s unlikely that his own kids will be able to attend the university he went to because the price of tuition is now too high.
He compares the financial burden of debt to a rock around your neck. This sympathy for any student pursuing a college education has led Kinsella to understand why someone would wish for the push towards free college. However, there are still many questions on the educator’s mind about the ins and outs of plans such as Elizabeth Warren’s.
“Is it loan forgiveness? Are they going to transfer a huge amount of money to the states? If they do that transfer of money from the federal government to the states, can they make sure the states actually spend that on universities? It would be interesting to see how they plan to do that,” he says.
With the presidential election fast approaching, free college is one of the many topics that will be on the forefront of everyone’s minds. No matter who you are or where you stand, it is up to you to make your voice heard on the issues that you feel are important. See you at the polls!
