Hillary Clinton's excuse for not backing universal free college is totally bogus

Watering down Bernie Sanders' idea only makes it weaker

There are easier ways to cut the cost of college than what Hillary Clinton is proposing.
(Image credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

One of Bernie Sanders' signature issues in the Democratic primary was a call for free college at public schools, which galvanized fervent enthusiasm and support among a young generation straining under a huge load of student debt. Sensing a political opportunity, Hillary Clinton recently rolled out her own version of this idea — but it's pretty clear that in her rush to shore up support among millennials without offending deficit scolds, she botched a key detail.

That's because instead of truly free college, her version has a means test. So, at first, only families who make $85,000 per year or less would be able to send their kids to college tuition-free. The threshold for eligibility would then increase by $10,000 per year until capping off at families making $125,000 in 2021. Why? Because "I don't think taxpayers should be paying to send Donald Trump's kids to college," as Clinton said at a debate last November.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.