Last week, 2020 presidential candidate and U.S Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) outlined a radical education plan that addresses the racial and socioeconomic disparities in our higher education system. Her plan includes tuition and non-tuition-related solutions such as a minimum $50 billion federal fund for HBCUs, a $100 million investment in Pell Grants, and prohibiting public colleges from considering an applicants citizenship and criminal history during the admission process. If implemented, this plan would be a significant and historic investment in disenfranchised students and communities across the country.

Nearly half of African-American students who borrowed money defaulted on their loans, according to a recent study. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Education issued a report stating black students with a college degree would owe more than their original student loan balance after 12 years. The report revealed a direct correlation between race and student loans, as well as the need for a solution that addresses those disparities in future education policy. For generations, black students have had to overcome institutionalized and structural barriers to obtain a college degree, only to be sent into a marginalized economy with massive debt that sets them even further behind than their skin color or zip code.

Warren’s detailed plan addresses racial and socioeconomic disparities to improve the higher education system with five potential policy changes that would be funded by a 2% tax on families earning $50 million income or higher:

Create a minimum $50 billion fund for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Additional federal funding for states that demonstrate substantial improvement in enrollment and graduation rates for lower-income students and students of color.
Ban for-profit colleges from receiving any federal dollars while targeting lower-income students, service members, and students of color and leaving them saddled with debt.
Require public college audits that identify issues that create shortfalls and propose steps to improve those rates.
Prohibit public colleges from considering citizenship status or criminal history in admissions decisions. (Read more about her plan here.)