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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has slammed calls to ‘cancel’ student debt or make the university free, this week complaining about what she called a ‘socialist takeover’ of education –and prompting a fiery rebuke from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
DeVos, who will almost certainly be replaced once President-elect Biden is inaugurated, has been a lightning rod for controversy since he began his term in 2017; it pushed for deregulation and aimed to increase due process on college campuses, to applause from conservatives and harsh criticism from Democrats.
But with a new administration likely to lead the Education Department in a drastically different direction, one of President Trump’s longest-serving private secretaries has filed a final complaint against “total government control” over higher education Tuesday at the 2020 Federal Student Aid Training Conference.
“Policies should never make students take on more debt. Nor should they put taxpayer dollars at risk. There are too many politicians today who support a policy that does both,” he said. declared DeVos. “Even further the really insidious notion of government giveaways.” We have heard shrill calls to “cancel”, “forgive”, “make it all free”. Any harmless label cannot mask what it really is: false. “
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She continued, “The campaign for a ‘free college’ is about total government control. Make no mistake: this is a socialist takeover of higher education. Now, depending on your personal politics, some of you might not find this notion scary. like me. But notice my words: neither of you would like the way this will work. “
She added that university advisers could essentially become “rationers” of “state-approved higher education options”. Students, DeVos warns, may not be eligible for certain schools or study programs. DeVos also said there may be cases where “a quota of ‘free’ students is full” and counselors are forced to tell students “they now have to pay full price.”
“At the end of the day, nothing is ‘free’. Someone somewhere is footing the bill, ”she said. “And the bill is coming to an end. What we do next in education policy – and public policy at large – will either shatter our already fragile economy or usher in an era of achievement and prosperity like we have never had. never seen . “
Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., responded on Twitter to DeVos’ remarks, mocking the education secretary’s comments.
“A tuition-free public college is a dangerous socialist takeover of higher education, as opposed to the far superior capitalist takeover of higher education, which reliably buries millions of Americans in billions dollars in debt and puts them in low-paying jobs without health care, “the” Squad “congresswoman wrote.
Biden’s campaign website advocates several reforms related to higher education. These include the elimination of tuition fees for all students attending public colleges and universities with families with family incomes below $ 125,000, an improvement in the remission of student loans for public servants, a significant reduction student loan payments at 5% of discretionary income greater than 25,000 less than $ 25,000.
During the Democratic presidential primary, Biden also supported remission of “at least $ 10,000 in student debt per person”. As recently as October, Biden supported “making community college free for all.”
The debate over student loan debt and the price of college education has been raging for years as many college graduates postpone important life decisions like leaving their parents’ house, buying a house or getting married due to their loans. Supporters of the complete elimination of student debt like Sen. Bernie sanders, I-Vt., Say it is “foolish” for the country to tell “young people to get the best education possible, and then burden them with decades of crushing loan debt.”
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But, conservatives often argue that college education has been overrated in the United States, and this is the root of the college debt problem. DeVos hinted at this Tuesday, touting his department’s expansion of “learning opportunities.”
Those on the right also note that the total cancellation of student debt would be a fundamentally regressive policy, which would on average benefit higher-income people rather than lower-income people.
Fox News’ Ashley Cozzolino contributed to this report.
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