Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday called for a “revolution” in higher education funding that would involve free tuition for freshmen and sophomores at all public colleges and universities.
“We need a revolution in the way higher education is funded,” Sanders said at Johnson State College, a public school in Vermont, according to his office.
{mosads}Sanders, who is mulling a 2016 White House run, said rising college costs are preventing young people from going to college and are leaving many students in debt.
“This is absurd. This is absolutely counter-productive to our efforts to create a strong economy,” he said, adding that the United States is lagging behind other countries where college is free.
Sanders, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, also proposed restructuring the student loan program.
“It makes no sense that students and their parents are forced to pay interest rates for higher education loans that are much higher than they pay for car loans or housing mortgages,” he said. “We must also end the practice of the government making $127 billion over the next decade in profits from student loans.”
His proposal comes just a month after President Obama pitched a plan to Congress that would make community college free. Sanders said he welcomed the proposal, but said the U.S. must go further than that.