How Bloomberg would make community college free and overhaul student loans

[highplainsdem]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/18/mike-bloomberg-community-college-student-loans-115703

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday released a new $700 billion higher education plan that calls for free community college and doubling Pell Grants for low-income students.

-snip-

Bloomberg would eliminate tuition at community colleges for all students, embracing a proposal President Barack Obama first made in 2015 and that has since become a key pillar of Democratic higher education plans.

The plan also calls for making community college and four-year public colleges “debt-free” for low-income students, meaning they would not have to take out loans to finance tuition or other costs like books, food and transportation. The benefit would be available to families that earn, on average, less than $30,000 a year, according to the Bloomberg campaign.

The tuition-free and debt-free college goals would be accomplished by creating a new federal-state matching program and doubling the maximum Pell Grant to $12,690. In addition, Bloomberg would expand Pell eligibility to incarcerated students and undocumented students, known as Dreamers, who were brought to the U.S. as children.

-snip-

Much more at the link, including details on his student debt repayment/forgiveness plan, which caps the monthly payment at 5% of income, not 10%. And which wipes out loans of borrowers who were scammed by “failed or predatory for-profit colleges."

The article notes that the plan has similarities to what Obama proposed in 2015 and what Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar are proposing now.

Bloomberg's plan also includes a proposal to force elite universities to be transparent about how many of their admissions are legacy admissions favoring the children of alumni, and to potentially curtail federal aid if those schools don't move toward ending legacy preferences.

If you want to know how much of a difference that will make, here's an NPR article citing a study that found that between 2009 and 2015, a third of undergrad admissions at Harvard were legacy admissions.

[appalachiablue]

1. Also of interest is Bloomberg's record on education reforms for public schools,

The Guardian, Feb. 17, 2020:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/michael-bloomberg-education-reforms-public-schools

[patricia92243]

2. If a person is incarcerated, how would they go to college. And as it

stands now. would dreamers be afraid to apply because they would be afraid of getting deported?

Some of these things need to be addressed first.

[zackymilly]

3. I think anyone who is incarnated can go to college if they are accepted. n/t

I know you meant incarcerated.

[patricia92243]

6. Thanks! Fixed.

[uponit7771]

4. Bloomberg supports charter schools, Bloomberg is a republican through and through and has no

... gumption on forwarding democratic values.

[Demsrule86]

8. You know...charter schools are popular here in Ohio as before these schools...some kids had to

go to truly awful schools with 40 or more kids in a classroom...they have their issues but are popular in poor communities and many AA communities as well. I would like to see more accountability and equal pay for all schools... and a change in the way schools are funded as well, but this takes time and Democratic government. Ohio is currently run by the GOP...and those Democrats that think opposing charter schools is a winner in all states are wrong.

My Hubs is first generation ...born in the Bronx to Irish parents who became citizens...the last of four children. He was slated to go to Kennedy for High School. He had already been in a tough Junior High and went to school with a knife everyday because of the gangs...he was afraid and with good reason. His older sisters and parents combined resources to get him into Mount St. Michaels...where he did very well and became an engineer. There is no doubt in my mind, he would be dead or in jail had he remained in public school. It is unfair when we can't fix public education fast enough to help current students to doom the children of today to really bad schools...so if Charters schools can help, I am all for it.

[Happy Hoosier]

5. Frankly, Student loans need a couple of permanent fixes.

1) Zero, or extremely low interest rates.
2) No interest accrual during training.
3) The ability to pause payments (and interest) during periods of unemployment or underemployment.

[BlueIdaho]

7. States and the Federal government need to step back up to the plate...

Egregious student loans are a fairly new phenomenon. The real problem is states that have abandoned their financial responsibility to colleges of every kind. Add to that our federal government’s restrictions on grants and tuition waivers and we have what we have today. An enormous burden shift onto the shoulders of students and their families.

If states genuinely care about the future of America, it’s time they put their money where their mouth is. To make this possible - businesses and corporations need to start paying their fair share of taxes.

[Demsrule86]

9. It is easy to say that...but won't happen in red dominated states...so it is in our best interest to

figure out at the federal level how to help...and as I said in my above posts until this happens...keep the Charter schools...Some are good and some are bad...but all are better than the public schools in poor areas of Cleveland.