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Hillary Clinton, on her first trip to Iowa after declaring her presidential candidacy, criticized for-profit colleges and talked about college costs in a discussion at Kirkwood Community College.
She said it was important to look at "some of the for-profit schools, some of the scandals that have arisen in these places where they have taken all this money… and put all these people into debt" without providing students with the skills they need. Then many students "drop out and they don't have the degree or credential" but do have debt, Clinton said. "We have to take on those interests that want to keep the system the way it is."
Clinton endorsed President Obama's proposal to provide free community college tuition. But she stressed that she realized tuition alone was not the only expense faced by many community college students. Books and online materials cost money, she said. She said she has been told that because Pell Grants cover tuition at most community colleges for low-income students, many say that the "bigger problem" is other expenses beyond tuition. "A lot of students are working or are single parents and they have all these other expenses," she said.
C-SPAN video of the appearance may be found here, with the section on college costs and for-profit higher education starting around the 58-minute mark.
