Hillary’s college plan has good ideas, but nothing else

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton released a new plan for college affordability, embracing the positions of her former campaign rival, Bernie Sanders.

The full plan — which can be found here — proposes the following:

• Refinancing student loans; a repayment plan of no more than 10 percent of monthly income; and debt forgiveness after 20 years.
• Giving entrepreneurs the ability to defer debt and not accumulate interest or make payments for three years.
• An executive action calling for a “three-month moratorium on student loan payments.”
• A four-year plan that, by 2021, will make in-state college and universities tuition-free for students from families making under $125,000.
• The restoration of year-round Pell Grant funding.

In a series of tweets, Sanders applauded Clinton for these ideas:

Yet for all the positives of this plan, there are major questions.

The first is whether Clinton is being opportunistic with her attempt at luring Sanders supporters. For this certain segment of liberals, there’ll always be questions about Clinton’s progressive bona fides. And while there were some similarities between Sanders’ plan and Clinton’s initial plan, there were striking differences that were nowhere to be seen in Wednesday’s proposals.

At the end of the day, though, Sanders did very well with young voters, in part because of the college debt issue. Clinton will do whatever it takes to get them on her side.

The other questions have more to do with practicality. Although her New College Compact, released in 2015, listed a cost of $350 billion over ten years, Wednesday’s plan did not include any specific cost. Perhaps that number has not been calculated yet, and the subtle details are being worked out. However, it’s absolutely essential for a program this ambitious to have some kind of a price tag. Otherwise, there’s the risk of not being transparent.

And then there’s the part that needs far, far more explanation than it got, and that’s the states. Here’s what the plan contains re: state governments:

States will have to commit to a combination of reinvestment and reform over the next four years and beyond to ensure that federal support is funding students and not excessive cost growth.

Nothing following this statement addresses what the states need to do to cooperate with the federal government, or what costs, if any, they will have. There’s also the issue of Republican governors opposing the program. Two of the biggest parts of the Affordable Care Act, the state exchanges and the Medicaid expansion, had difficulty getting established. A program of this size may have a similar path.

The issue of student loan debt and college affordability is central to me because I am, in fact, a college student. Hillary Clinton is pandering directly to me; it’s like a country music singer referencing trucks and Miller Lite. I care about this issue because I will a) need to pay off loans after graduating b) enter into an uncertain job market while paying off said loans. My generation needs to hear solutions — otherwise, we’re even more fucked.

And while I do like parts of Clinton’s plan, there’s not enough to get me fully on board. I’m sure we’ll get more details soon. But until then, I can’t say I’m with her.