Democrats Running for President Are Staking Out Ground on Free College. Here’s Where They Stand.

In the well-populated field of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president, proposals for free college are central to the party’s platform. Plans to unburden students from deep debt, which gained support during the run-up to the 2016 election, held broad appeal among many constituencies concerned about the rising cost of college — younger voters, indebted working adults, and middle-class parents.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts this week became the first major candidate in the crowded Democratic field — comprising 20 candidates and counting — to release a comprehensive higher-education plan. The plan, which would cost $1.25 trillion over 10 years, would cancel student-loan debt for 42 million Americans and make every public college free. While other candidates have yet to issue such a comprehensive plan, their past statements, sponsored legislation, and endorsements indicate that free college will be a major talking point this election.

The term “free college” seems relatively straightforward, but candidates have varying stances on what “free” means. Broadly speaking, free-college plans fall into two categories: tuition-free and debt-free. The former would waive the cost of tuition, typically at community colleges or two-year programs, while the latter aim to cover all of the costs associated with attending a public college, so that students don’t have to take out any loans.

A few bills in Congress, none of them passed, have emerged. In 2017, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced the College for All Act, which would have eliminated tuition and fees at public four-year colleges for students from families that earn less than $125,000 a year.

The issue came up again in two pieces of legislation last month. The America’s College Promise Act proposed waiving tuition for in-state students enrolled in community- or technical-college programs. The Debt-Free College Act, introduced in the Senate, would set up a federal-state partnership to fully pay for an education at two- and four-year public colleges. States would receive a dollar-for-dollar federal match to provide students with need-based grants, in place of loans.

Many of the presidential hopefuls have already signaled their plans by co-sponsoring one or more of these bills.

Here’s what we know about the Democratic candidates’ stances on free college and the cost of college more broadly. We’ll update this resource as more contenders outline their proposals.

• Joe Biden
• Cory Booker
• Pete Buttigieg
• Julian Castro
• Tulsi Gabbard
• Kirsten Gillibrand
• Kamala Harris
• Amy Klobuchar
• Beto O’Rourke
• Bernie Sanders
• Eric Swalwell
• Elizabeth Warren
• Andrew Yang

Joe Biden

former U.S. vice president

Where he stands: In 2015, Biden said he supported a policy allowing four years of free college.

In his own words: “We need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all our children.”

Cory Booker

senator from New Jersey

Where he stands: Supports debt-free college.

Legislation: Co-sponsored the Debt-Free College Act.

In his own words: “For the millions of students across the country, we must do better, and [the act] does that with a path for achieving a debt-free college degree.”

Pete Buttigieg

mayor of South Bend, Ind.

Where he stands: Does not support debt-free college.

What he supports instead: To reduce the cost of college. He has called for states to cover a higher proportion of the cost than students do, and for evaluating interest rates for refinancing student loans.

In his own words: At Northeastern University in April, Buttigieg said: “Americans who have a college degree earn more than Americans who don’t. As a progressive, I have a hard time getting my head around the idea of a majority who earn less because they didn’t go to college subsidizing a minority who earn more because they did.”

Julian Castro

former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development

Where he stands: Supports tuition-free college.

What else he supports: Wants to make first two years of college, a certification program, or apprenticeship “accessible and affordable.”

In his own words: “I believe that we need to work toward a tuition-free system of public university, college, apprenticeship, and certification programs in this country to have the smartest, most well-prepared work force that we can in this 21st century.”

Tulsi Gabbard

congresswoman from Hawaii

Where she stands: Supports free community college for all and wants to eliminate tuition and fees at four-year public colleges.

Supported legislation: Supported the College for All Act, a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

Kirsten Gillibrand

senator from New York

Where she stands: Supports debt-free college.

Legislation: Co-sponsored the College for All Act, the Debt-Free College Act, and the America’s College Promise Act; introduced the Federal Student Loan Refinancing Act in 2013.

What else she supports: She has proposed lowering the federal student-loan refinancing rate to 4 percent, which currently ranges from 5 to 7 percent, and expanding the GI Bill to provide free higher education to students who complete one or two years of military service.

In her own words: At an MSNBC town hall in March, Gillibrand said, “One of the quickest ways to get rid of student debt is to refinance all federal loans at the lowest rate for debt that’s available.”

Kamala Harris

senator from California

Where she stands: Supports debt-free college.

Legislation: Co-sponsored the College for All Act, the Debt-Free College Act, and the America’s College Promise Act.

What else she supports: Under Harris’s plan to increase salaries of teachers by $13,500, funding would be dedicated in part to historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.

In her own words: At her Oakland, Calif., campaign kickoff speech, Harris said, “I am running to declare education is a fundamental right, and we will guarantee that right with universal pre-K and debt-free college.”

Amy Klobuchar

senator from Minnesota

Where she stands: Supports tuition-free community and technical colleges but does not support free tuition at four-year public colleges.

Legislation: Co-sponsored the America’s College Promise Act

In her own words: At a CNN Town Hall in February, Klobuchar said: “No, I am not for free college for all … I’m just trying to find a mix of incentives … and that’s why I talked about expanding Pell Grants.”

Beto O’Rourke

former congressman from Texas

Where he stands: Has not made an explicit statement on debt-free college.

Legislation: Co-sponsored the Student Loan Affordability Act in 2013.

In his own words: In 2018, O’Rourke tweeted in support of giving “underserved communities the chance to graduate debt free.” At an event in Grinnell College in April, he said: “No. I am not for free college for all.” At another event in Iowa, he elaborated: “I mention debt-free higher education if it’s a publicly financed, public-serving educational institution. And then for those who have accrued the debt, that $1.5 trillion, at a minimum, let’s refinance more of that at lower rates.”

Bernie Sanders

senator from Vermont

Where he stands: Supports tuition-free public college and trade schools.

Legislation: Introduced the College for All Act in 2017.

What else he supports: According to Sanders’s platform, he also wants to fully fund historically black colleges and universities, and to significantly lower interest rates on student loans.

In his own words: At a CNN town hall in February, Sanders said, “We are going to pay for [free college] with a tax on Wall Street speculation. … If we can give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to people who don’t need it, we can make public colleges and universities tuition-free all over this country, and that’s a very high priority for me.”

Eric Swalwell

congressman from California

Where he stands: Supports debt-free college for public university students in work-study programs.

Supported legislation: Co-sponsored the College for All Act.

What else he supports: According to Swalwell’s platform, he supports no-interest federal student loans and tax-free employer contributions.

Elizabeth Warren

senator from Massachusetts

Where she stands: Supports debt-free college.

Supported legislation: Co-sponsored the College for All Act, the Debt-Free College Act, and the America’s College Promise Act

What else she supports: In her higher-education proposal, Warren wants to cancel as much as $50,000 each in student-loan debt for 42 million Americans, make every two- and four-year public college free of cost for students, and provide $50 billion in funding for HBCUs.

In her own words: In an interview with MSNBC, Warren said, “Anyone who’s got outstanding student-loan debt can have up to $50,000 worth of student-loan debt canceled out so long as their income is under $100,000 … There’s no help for anybody whose family income is above $250,000.”

Andrew Yang

former tech-industry executive

Where he stands: Supports student-loan refinancing and debt forgiveness

What else he supports: Yang has 11 higher-education policy points, which includes forgiving the debt of those who didn’t graduate, closing colleges with high loan-default rates and low employment success, and establishing new loan-repayment options.

In his own words: In an interview with the podcast host Joe Rogan, Yang said, “One of the things I’m proposing is if you commit 10 percent of your wages [to loan repayment] for 10 years, then you’re debt-free. That means if you’re not making a lot of money, you can save a whole lot.”

Follow Terry Nguyen on Twitter at @terrygtnguyen, or email her at terry.nguyen@chronicle.com.