Dem hopeful Bernie Sanders proposes erasing U.S. student debt

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-25 03:19:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. progressive senator Bernie Sanders, a well-known Democratic presidential hopeful, announced a plan on Monday to erase the 1.6-trillion-U.S.-dollar outstanding student debt and make two- and four-year public colleges and universities tuition- and debt-free.

The proposal, dubbed "The College for All Act," is aimed to release all 45 million Americans from their student debt, with a new tax on Wall Street transactions that Sanders' campaign says will raise more than 2 trillion dollars over 10 years, although some tax experts give lower revenue estimates.

Under the plan, trade schools and apprenticeship programs would also be tuition-free.

"This is truly a revolutionary proposal," Sanders told The Washington Post. "In a generation hard hit by the Wall Street crash of 2008, it forgives all student debt and ends the absurdity of sentencing an entire generation to a lifetime of debt for the 'crime' of getting a college education."

Outstanding education debt in the United States has eclipsed credit card and auto debt. Today the average college graduate leaves school 30,000 dollars in the red, up from 10,000 dollars in the 1990s, and 28 percent of student loan borrowers are in delinquency or default, according to local media reports.

Elizabeth Warren, another veteran progressive senator and Democratic presidential candidate, has proposed capping student debt forgiveness at 50,000 dollars and offers no relief to borrowers who earn more than 250,000 dollars.

These proposals have faced fierce objections, including from some moderate Democrats, for giving taxpayer subsidies to educated Americans who, on average, have higher earnings than those with only a high school degree, local analysts say.

Sanders' move is expected to intensify the upcoming higher education policy debate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

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