Another day, another proposal from Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the road to the Democratic primary.
Warren rolled out her tenth ambitious policy proposal Monday, calling for the elimination of about $640 billion worth of outstanding student loan debt.
The Massachusetts Senator laid out her latest policy proposal in a Medium blog post ahead of a series of CNN town halls centered around young people and involving fellow 2020 presidential candidates at Saint Anselm College.
Americans carry more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, affecting about 40 million people.
“It’s a problem for all of us,” she wrote. “It’s reducing homeownership rates. It’s leading fewer people to start businesses. It’s forcing students to drop out of school before getting a degree.”
The plan would eliminate as much $50,000 in student loan debt for each person with less than $100,000 in household income. The $50,000 number would gradually decrease for those making more than $100,000 and $250,000 ($1 less relief for every $3 earned), and people who make more than $250,000 would get no relief.
In addition to wiping out student loan debt, Warren also is proposing to eliminate tuition and fees at all two- and four-year public universities.
The approach would be two-pronged: First eliminate much of the debt, and then restructure the system so that much debt can’t accumulate again.
“Once we’ve cleared out the debt that’s holding down an entire generation of Americans, we must ensure that we never have another student debt crisis again,” she wrote.
Warren also proposed changes to close the wealth disparity among races, including a prohibition on public universities using an applicant’s criminal history or citizenship status in its admissions decisions, and a $50 billion fund for historically black colleges and institutions than serve minorities.
It seems Warren is trying to go even further left than Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who proposed free tuition when running in 2016. Though, he called for a loan refinancing act instead of outright loan forgiveness.
