Chelsea Clinton fudged the details of her mother’s college affordability plan Thursday, claiming features of Hillary Clinton's plan that are actually closer to rival Bernie Sanders’.
"She believes that anyone should be able to graduate from school debt-free, public universities or private universities, debt-free," Clinton said while on the campaign trial in Wisconsin.
However, Hillary Clinton’s plan does not include private debt-free education. Instead, it features mechanisms that give students attending private schools options for lowering their debt, such as a "no-loan" state incentive program and lower student loan interest rates.
Chelsea Clinton then said that her mother’s plan would allow low- and middle-class students to attend public university tuition-free, but it is Sanders who is offering tuition-free public education.
"And for public universities that students who come from working-class, middle-class families, should be able to go tuition-free. But families who come from wealthier backgrounds should pay into the system," Clinton said.
Hillary Clinton’s plan does not allow all lower- and middle-class families to go to school tuition-free. Instead, it examines low- and low-to-middle class students on a case-by-case basis and allows some to qualify for no or low tuition.
While Sanders goes farther than Clinton in his affordability plan, the foundation for her proposal mirrors Bernie Sanders’s, according to the Washington Post.
"Although Clinton doesn’t mention the word "free" in her proposal, the basic foundation is the same as legislation Sanders introduced in May that would eliminate tuition at four-year public colleges through federal investment," the Washington Post reports.