Dive Brief:
- U.S. representatives Raúl Grijalva and Ruben Gallego, both Democrats from Arizona, are voicing support for a debt-free college proposal in Congress.
- As the 2016 election cycle ramps up, Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate are pushing to extend the promise of debt-free education through college, graduate school, medical school, and law school, The Arizona Republic reports.
- Arizona has been home to some of the most significant higher ed cuts in the nation and the portion of students needing loans as well as the amount they’re taking out has risen, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
The push for debt-free college is getting more prominence as 2016 presidential candidates are asked to weigh in. Hillary Clinton, whose campaign staffers say she will support the concept of debt-free college, is expected to release a detailed plan for student loan debt in the coming weeks. The nation’s collective education debt tops $1 trillion and some point to the number of students defaulting on their loans as evidence we’re heading for a meltdown akin to the housing mortgage crisis. So far, no one has put forward any concrete funding plans that could get debt-free college through the Republican-controlled Congress, but support for the concept continues to grow.