It is important to stay up to date on the Higher Education proposals from the candidates of the 2020 election. As full plans are available, we will share highlights as well as a link to the full plans of each candidate. NASFAA has also compiled a website dedicated to following the positions of the presidential candidates, available at www.nasfaa.org/2020.
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, released his $500 billion plan for higher education. His plan outlines several initiatives to meet his higher education goals: Make college more affordable, support college completion, increase dedicated support for HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions, make student loans less burdensome and more affordable, and recommit to public service.
“A college degree has long been a ticket to well-paying jobs and fulfilling post-graduate opportunities — and for many Americans, a pathway to the middle class,” Buttigieg wrote in the plan. “But today, college costs students and their families more than ever before.”
There are many aspects of Buttigieg’s plan to make higher education more affordable. To view the full plan, visit his website. Highlights of his plan include:
- Make college more affordable:
- Make college affordable for all students. Buttigieg will make public tuition free for 80% of American families, including all families earning up to $100,000 and many middle-income families with multiple children. He also plans to provide substantial tuition subsidies for students from families earning up to $150,000 and require that states improve affordability for all students. In addition, he plans to expand eligibility to DACA students.
- Increase Pell Grants for all students and ensure Pell Grants keep pace with college costs. Buttigieg plans to add $120 billion to the Pell Grant program and increase the size of the maximum Pell Grant by $1,000. He will tie Pell Grants to inflation to keep up with rising tuition and living costs and guarantee funding for Pell Grants to all eligible students through entitlement spending
- Get students on the path to college early by notifying high schoolers about their Pell Grant eligibility. According to Buttigieg, students who think they won’t be able to afford college are often discouraged from pursuing it. His plan proposes to notify students of their eligibility for Pell grants automatically, starting in 9th grade. The plan also includes automating most of the FAFSA form to allow students to have more access to federal funds.
- Support college completion:
- Invest in our local communities by creating a $1 billion community college fund. The use of this fund will address common barriers for college students. The plan includes a reward for community colleges that are working to better meet their communities’ educational and career needs.
- Ensure students don’t go hungry. Buttigieg will pursue solutions to end food insecurity among college students. He plans to invest in a $2 billion pilot to expand the bipartisan free and reduced-price lunch program to provide food vouchers to students in community colleges.
- Protect student-athletes. Buttigieg supports regulation and legislation like California’s new bipartisan Fair Pay to Play Act (see more information on our blog post last month), which ensures student-athletes can seek compensation for the use of their images, just like other college students, and engage agents to represent them in the marketplace.
- Increase dedicated support for HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions:
- Invest an additional $50 billion in HBCUs, Tribal Colleges, and Minority-Serving Institutions over the next decade. In addition to supporting capital and instructional costs, Buttigieg plan allows funds to be used for need-based aid to promote strategies that support student needs and promote college completion.
- Make student loans less burdensome and more affordable:
- Automatically enroll struggling student borrowers in affordable, income-driven repayment plans. Student borrowers will be automatically enrolled when they fall behind on their payments or indicate they are struggling to repay their debt. Loans will be cancelled, tax-free, after borrowers have been enrolled in the income-based plan for 20 years.
- Put borrowers first. Buttigieg’s plan limits marketing from student loan servicers, makes credit reporting on student loans fair and transparent, and ends wage garnishment and other collections.
- Recommit to public service:
- Provide earlier student loan forgiveness to public servants and full debt cancellation after 10 years of service. Those who are working in government service or non-profit organizations will have their debt cancelled incrementally based on their years of service, at an accelerated rate, under Buttigieg’s plan.
- Improve the management of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. His administration will closely monitor student loan servicers to ensure they follow the rules, and hold them accountable if they fall short.
Download the full plan: The American Opportunity Agenda: Affordable college, stronger workforce development, and lifelong learning.
Sources:
Pete Buttigieg Proposes Free College for Low-Income Students, Increased Pell Grant
Pete Buttigieg Education Plan