What the Candidates Think
Obama: President Obama has doubled federal funding for Pell Grants to make more money available to more students and he persuaded Congress to take commercial banks out of the federal student loan business. President Obama’s “pay as you earn” program caps monthly student federal loan repayment at 10 percent of the students’ monthly discretionary income.
Romney: Mitt Romney says he wants to grow Pell Grants at the rate of inflation; something he says will keep down overall college costs. Romney says a flood of federal dollars drives up tuition costs and increases the debt burden, and he says the best thing he can do to help students is to create more jobs to help college graduates pay down their debt. Romney also wants to get commercial banks back into the federal student loan business.
About one in five households owed student debt in 2010, more than double the amount from two decades ago (Pew Research Center).
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