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Access, Affordability, Transparency: Millennials Outline Their Education Priorities for 2018 Election

Access, Affordability, Transparency: Millennials Outline Their Education Priorities for 2018 Election

With recent polls showing that education is among the most important issues to young voters this election, Young Invincibles has released a policy agenda that outlines solutions for candidates to modernize and improve America’s higher education system.

Washington, DC – As the 2018 midterm elections approach, Young Invincibles, the nation’s largest nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for young adults ages 18 to 34, has released a policy agenda to modernize the higher education system and reduce racial inequities that create barriers to success for students of color. Titled “A Vote For the Future of Higher Education: A Policy Agenda for 2018,” the platform addresses six major challenges facing students and offers policy solutions Congress can enact to begin solving the problem.

“We’ve spoken with young people across the country about this election and we’ve heard loud and clear that a flawed higher education system is stacking the deck against students achieving their financial goals,” said Reid Setzer, Government Affairs Director for Young Invincibles. “More than any other generation, young people understand that an education is critical to their financial future, but the cost is burying too many under student debt, especially in communities of color. Any serious candidate needs to have a plan to address these challenges, and must ensure their solutions make a quality education more accessible and affordable for every student.”

Education and student debt has become a defining political issue for young people. In fact, a recent poll of 1,500 U.S. adults found that education is the most important issue for 18-29 year olds, beating the economy, health care, and twelve other pressing issues facing the country.

And young people are engaged as ever, with a recent poll showing that 37 percent of Americans under 30 they will “definitely be voting” compared to 23 percent who said the same in 2014, and 31 percent in 2010.

However, challenges like the skyrocketing price of tuition, confusing and burdensome repayment options, and lack of student supports prevent students from taking full advantage of their education – or from enrolling in school altogether – and widens racial attainment gaps. With education top-of-mind for young voters, Young Invincibles spoke with Millennials across the country to find solutions to the problems facing today’s college students.

The solutions in this election platform also addresses racial inequities in the higher education system. For instance, in 2015, more than 36.2 percent of white adults had completed a bachelor’s degree or more, while black and Latinx attainment rates sat at 22.5 and 15.5 percent. The solutions supported by Young Invincibles in “A Vote For the Future of Higher Education” include:

  • Create a federal-state partnership to encourage state reinvestment in higher education and enable students to attend public colleges without debt
  • Streamline student loan repayments into two plans – a time-based plan and an income-based plan – and offer tax-free loan forgiveness after 20 years of on-time payments
  • Hold institutions accountable for providing quality educational opportunities by measuring retention rates, completion rates, and graduates’ ability to repay loans
  • Allow partial Pell Grants to be used for quality short-term programs that award industry- and academically-recognized credentials and certificates necessary for employment
  • Support a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and DREAMers, allowing them to continue building their lives, getting skills, and contributing to our economy
  • Support proposals that make data around higher education outcomes more transparent and accessible for students and families

To create this election platform, YI conducted surveys and roundtables with young people in six different metro areas during the past year. Building on their years of policy and advocacy work on behalf of students, YI used these conversations to create a student-focused agenda for the 2018 midterm elections rooted in correcting flaws and reducing inequities in the system.

You can read the full agenda here.