In 2009, then-President Obama made a bold proposal: “By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” His administration then pursued a slew of policies to boost college attendance, including fatter tuition tax credits, a larger Pell Grant, and free tuition at community colleges. 

Echoing Obama, over the next several years, Democrats endorsed sending more kids to college. 

Hillary Clinton proposed free college tuition for most, stating that “every student should have the option to graduate from a public college or university in their state without taking on any student debt.” At the beginning of his administration, President Biden once again pushed free community college. Some congressional Democrats wanted to go even further, with independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’s “College For All Act.” 

Read the full op-ed here.