Biden's Government College Plan
By: Jonatan Campos
The US elections are around the corner; on Tuesday, Nov. 3, millions of Americans exerted their right to vote and choose the next president. Colleges and their future are in the foreground as education support in the United States experience many changes over time, so the financial aid that each government proposes comes with advantages and disadvantages depending on social classes.
Trump took a step forward when last year, he signed a bipartisan bill that will permanently provide more than $250 million a year to the nation's historically Black colleges and universities, along with dozens of other institutions that serve large shares of minority students. The bill authorizes $85 million a year for historically Black colleges and universities, along with $100 million for Hispanic-serving institutions, $30 million for tribal schools, and $40 million for various other minority-serving institutions, U.S. News states.
Joe Biden is proposing a plan for education and training beyond high school, and he states that it consists of giving hard-working Americans the chance to join or maintain their place in the middle class. His plan is:
Invest in community colleges and training to improve student success and grow a stronger, more prosperous and inclusive middle class.
Strengthen college as a reliable pathway to the middle class, not an investment that provides limited returns and leaves graduates with mountains of debt they cannot afford.
Support colleges and universities that play unique and vital roles in their communities, including historically Black colleges, universities and minority-serving institutions.
College costs have steadily increased since the 1980s when the Reagan administration cut higher education and funding and student aid; CNBC gives the data that over the past 10 years alone, college costs have increased by more than 25% and today, some 44 million Americans collectively hold over $1.6 trillion in student debt.
If Biden's proposal is true, it may be the solution for the many young Americans who seek to improve by getting a bachelor's or master's degree, but that finances create a constant struggle in their lives. They tend to apply to loans, so debts are accumulated over time to reach the point where most come to owe thousands of dollars each. The middle-class families with incomes below $125,000 could be benefited in educational terms if the plan carries on, so they might have reasons to consider their vote.
The opposition is against the operation cost. It is considered in $49.6 billion in the first year to become $73 billion per year, but with the advantage that $186.8 is estimated in tax revenue as workers earn more due to high education and training. In fact, the estimates show that the benefits far outweigh the costs of making tuition-free. Forbes research estimates that increasing the number of college graduates by just 107,400 in one year alone would yield an increase of more than $90 billion in tax revenue over their lifetimes.