California Legislators Propose Plan To Eliminate Student Debt

LOS ANGELES, CA — California's Democratic legislators introduced a proposal Monday that would make California’s college aid program the most liberal in the nation by being the first to cover living expenses in addition to tuition.

The "Degrees Not Debt" program aims to provide scholarships to roughly 390,000 California State University and University of California students with the end-goal of eliminating student debt. It would also make the first year of community college free to full-time students. Its supporters are hailing the program as the solution to the student debt crisis in an era when the youngest generation of college students are graduating with crippling debt levels that stay with them for decades. However, the program faces major hurdles. It would cost an estimated $420 million in its first year when the governor is forecasting a budget deficit, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The program, would be phased in over five years and is expected to reduce student debt by 20 percent annually, according to the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

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The proposal would also offer tuition-free community college for the first year for full-time students. Legislators are proposing to phase in the program, starting with a $420 million budget up to $1.6 billion annually when it reaches full implementation. It would drop to about $1.2 billion in subsequent years, as wages rise, legislators estimate. Middle and upper-class parents — those making making more than $60,000 — would be expected contribute, and students would be expected hold part-time jobs year-round, according to the newspaper.

"Lower-income students … are able to many times, through our great programs in California, get help to pay for tuition. But they’re still graduating with a tremendous amount of debt," Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D- Sacramento, who is spearheading the plan, told the Los Angeles Times. "The cost of living, the books, the transportation -- that's (what) we really need to tackle."

The annual cost of college in California is $21,000 for Cal State schools and $33,000 for the University of California.

There's been no official response from the governor's office on whether Gov. Jerry Brown would be amenable to incorporating the plan into the state's budget.

City News Service contributed to this report. Photo: UCLA by b r e n t via Wikimedia Commons