The push for free college is a recognition that the most well-traveled economic path to good jobs and the middle class requires at least some college for the vast majority of young Americans. It is also a response to the reality that many students and their families are taking on large amounts of debt to finance increasingly pricey postsecondary educations. In the past decade, tuition and fees have increased 35 percent at public four-year institutions and 23 percent at public two-year institutions. More than 43 million borrowers in the United States hold almost $1.5 trillion in student loan debt.
