The Public Favors Free Tuition And Cancelling Student Debt

A college education is very expensive these days. Even public colleges and universities have priced themselves out of the reach of many poor and working class students, and those who borrow to attend those schools find themselves with a crushing debt upon graduation.

Republicans don't seem to care. They want to cut the amount of grants available to students, and raised the interest rate students must pay when they borrow to go to school. Once again, it shows the Republicans only care about the rich.

Democrats have proposed a couple of plans to help needy students better themselves by getting an education. One would provide free tuition at public colleges and universities. Another would cancel up to $50,000 of debt to students from families making less than $100,000 a year.

What does the public think of the Democratic plans? A significant majority of them approve of both plans. About 61% of adults and registered voters support free tuition at public colleges and universities. About 56% of adults and 58% of registered voters support cancelling up to $50,000 in debt for families making less than $100,000 a year.

These programs make a lot of sense. In fact, they would pay for themselves over time, since those college-educated individuals will pay a lot more in taxes over their working life. Other developed nations know this, and many of them already offer free college tuition. It's time for the U.S. to do the same.

The charts above are from the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between May 26th and 28th of a national sample of 1,500 adults (including 1,120 registered voters). The margin of error for adults is 2.6 point, and for registered voters is 3 points.