U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.-07), and eight Senate colleagues this week in introducing legislation to make public colleges and universities tuition free for 95 percent of students.

The College for All Act would be the most transformative investment in higher education in 60 years and would substantially improve the lives of millions of students throughout the United States.

Nearly 4 million student borrowers live in California, owing an average of $38,168 and a total of $148.6 billion in student loan debt.

“As a first-generation college graduate from a low-income household, I know a good education is the foundation of the American dream, but I’ve seen firsthand the challenges of accessing and affording higher education,” said Sen. Padilla. “We need bold, proactive solutions to make college more affordable — not the Trump Administration’s short-sighted plan to eradicate student financial aid and put higher education out of reach for millions of American families. The College for All Act would help millions of working families shoulder the financial burden of paying for their children’s college. When we invest in all students, we support our nation’s financial interests by ensuring that opportunity and economic prosperity are attainable for all, regardless of income.”

“In a highly competitive global economy where technology is changing the very nature of work and the jobs we perform, we need the best educated workforce in the world,” said Sen. Sanders. “Our nation used to lead the world in the percentage of adults with a college degree. Today, we are in 11th place behind countries like Japan, South Korea, Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. That is not a prescription for a strong American economy of the future. It is a prescription for failure. Instead of increasing the cost of college in order to give more tax breaks to billionaires, we have a better idea. We are going to make public colleges and universities tuition free so that working class students can succeed and are not burdened with a lifetime of debt.”

Making public colleges and universities tuition free is not a radical idea. In 1944, as World War II was coming to an end, the U.S. government made free higher education available to all those who served in the armed forces.

That act not only improved the financial well-being of the Greatest Generation, but it also laid the groundwork for the greatest expansion of the American middle class in U.S. history. Moreover, over 50 years ago, many of America’s most prestigious public colleges and universities were also tuition free or virtually tuition free.

Since this legislation was first introduced 10 years ago, several colleges and universities in America have provided free tuition for working class and middle-class students, including every state college in New Mexico, the State University of New York, the University of Texas, the University of Wisconsin, and Arkansas State University.

Other wealthy countries like France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland have made their public colleges and universities tuition free or virtually tuition free because they understand the value of investing in their young people.

The College for All Act would guarantee tuition-free community college for all students and allow students from single households earning up to $150,000 a year, and married households earning up to $300,000 a year, to attend college without fear of being saddled with student loan debt.

Specifically, the College for All Act would also:

• Double the maximum Pell Grant award for students enrolled at public and private non-profit colleges;
  • Establish a $10 billion grant program to improve student outcomes and address equity gaps at underfunded public colleges and universities;
  • Triple federal TRIO program funding;
  • Double GEAR UP funding; and
  • Double mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
  
  In addition to Senator Padilla, the legislation is also cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).