November 15, 2015

Questions re: Hillary's College Plan

I've read from her website. I've read news articles. I still have questions.

Which exact loopholes is she closing to pay for it? How much will those loopholes bring in? How high of a tax bracket will these loopholes reach?

I've seen her plan for capital gains tax reform. Is that included? Either way, how much will that bring in? I can find talk of the details but no numbers for the income it'd produce.

She says families will have to contribute but many students will qualify for grants.

Families will be expected to make a realistic and simplified family contribution. Students will contribute based on wages from ten hours per week of work. But students and their families should be able to afford college without borrowing for tuition, and with lower costs for other expenses.

What's the scale for this? At what income will a family have to contribute to college financing? What is a realistic contribution? Is this influenced by the number of children they have? Will the lower middle class benefit from further grants? Does the student's 10-hour a week income go to their tuition or is that their money to keep for expenses? Sounds like they'll contribute their earnings. It keeps saying "shouldn't graduate" without borrowing...but I have no numbers to go by.

As for student loan interest, her plan states

Under Hillary’s plan, if you have student debt, you will be able to refinance your loans at current rates. An estimated 25 million borrowers will receive debt relief, and the typical borrower could save $2,000 over the life of his or her loans.
For future undergraduates, the plan will significantly cut interest rates so they reflect the government’s low cost of debt. This could save students hundreds or thousands of dollars over the life of their loans.

How far will the rate be cut? When the rate is cut, will older borrows be able to refinance at those lower rates?

Good ideas without committing to full free tuition off the bat, but what are the numbers?

Edit: A couple more: the plan talks about states that participate or contribute. I live in Alabama, which never wants any programs in general. What about the states the refuse to participate? Will their funding and grants be cut? How will that work?