Bernie Sanders believes all students deserve the opportunity to receive an affordable, quality education. Photo courtesy of freedomworks.org

In the midst of the presidential race, one presidential hopeful’s plan for education seems promising.

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders has a  plan that would make public universities tuition-free

While the plan itself is exceptionally helpful for minorities, who make up the lowest attendees of college, it also helps to bring  down the overall debt of university students.

Sanders’ proposed plan would be able to knock out tuition costs for students attending public schools and universities. And although the benefits seem to be directly affecting public institutions, there are work study jobs that could be created to help with financial strains.

When a student takes a loan out they oftentimes pay processing fees, meaning some of the money they need is taken away before they are able to get any. Sanders seeks to cut out that aspect and limit how the government profits from loan lending.

His plan has a lot of essential ideas that have students and potential students in mind. Cost keeps a lot of people away from being able to attend educational institutions or keeps them indebted to their loans.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average debt load and duration of debt repayment stands at roughly 21 years. That is not only a long time, but it also acknowledges the hardships that many students have to pay back way more than they initially owed after two decades of interest accumulation.

To those who value higher education opportunities, it’s important to find ways to make Sanders’ plan a reality.

If we can’t find a way to take the price tag and put it somewhere, then it just remains a long dream.

Sanders’ goal does include taxing wealthy families to help students with their loans. Many more people would benefit from free education than those who would pay higher taxes.

If passed, it would mean more students would gain interest and want to attend college.  Young blacks are the least likely to attend because of the cost. Sanders’ Plan will In an article published on a similar topic it was suggested that, “If the share of African Americans completing college was the same as for whites, then there would be an additional 331,034 African Americans with bachelor’s degrees this year.”

That is a tremendous number for one group of minority students.  But even so more the average number of college students could also jump per state depending on costs.

While this plan, like many others, has some holes to fill, the idea is that more people could go to college and thus increase their earning potential in the long term. I think this plan is something that should be considered.

Amina Chinnell-Mateen is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected]