Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Promise Tuition-Free College
Students at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College in downtown Los Angeles are excited about the possibility of having their tuition eliminated.
"It offers me the opportunity otherwise that I wouldn't be able to afford. I couldn't pay for myself to go to school," said student Robin Herbert.
Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders used the first Democratic Debate to pitch their own plan for a tuition-free public college education.
Under Clinton's $350 billion-dollar "College Compact," students would work a 10-hour-a-week job to pay for school.
Sanders' "Robin Hood" plan would use a tax on Wall Street to fund the cost of tuition.
Although students studying at a public college like LA Trade Tech agree the plan is a pretty good idea higher education expert, Tatiana Melguizo believes it is too good to be true. "In my opinion, it's unrealistic. It's an agenda item."
Melguizo is an Associate Professor in the USC Rossier School of Education. She says state and private institutions should work together to set more realistic goals to make higher education more affordable, otherwise, "We will just continue to perpetuate inequalities by giving students the impression that they will be able to attain something, but not really helping them get there."
