With New York holding its United States presidential primary on Tuesday, here is a rundown of each candidate’s plans on issues relating to higher education and campus life.

College costs

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton: Under Clinton’s “New College Compact,” the federal government would fund grants to states and colleges to ensure students at public institutions do not have to take out loans for tuition, books or fees. The plan would also provide free tuition at community colleges and support private, nonprofit colleges that keep costs low.

Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): Sanders’ plan would provide $47 billion each year to states to make tuition free at public institutions.

Republican candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): It is unclear whether Cruz has a plan related to college costs.

Republican candidate John Kasich: Kasich’s official website outlines the plan currently being implemented in Ohio, where he is governor. In that state, he has implemented a system that encourages high school students to earn college credit while taking high school courses. The system was put in place in an effort to ultimately reduce college costs by giving those students a jump-start on their college careers.

Republican candidate Donald Trump: It is unclear whether Trump has a plan related to college costs.

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Student loans and debt

Clinton: Clinton’s plan would allow people to refinance existing loans at the current interest rates. The plan would also “significantly cut interest rates” and allow people to enroll in an income-based repayment program.

Sanders: Similar to Clinton’s, Sanders’ plan would strive to significantly reduce interest rates in addition to allowing borrowers to refinance their loans based on current interest rates. Sanders would also prevent the federal government from profiting off student loans, according to his official website.

Cruz: Cruz has proposed abolishing the U.S. Department of Education, which allocates funding for grants and subsidized loans, and giving states more power in education.

Kasich: Kasich does not have a plan outlined on his website, but said in an October debate that people could potentially do public service to pay off their debt.

Trump: Trump has proposed cutting funding for the Department of Education. It is unclear whether he has a plan outlined beyond that, but he told The Hill in a July interview that the government shouldn’t profit from student loans and said in a November interview with an Iowa NBC affiliate that he would allow some people to refinance their loans.

Moriah Ratner | Staff PHotographer

Student aid programs

Clinton: Clinton’s plan would increase the number of available Pell Grants and allow Pell recipients to use those grants fully for living expenses, as Pell Grants are not part of her proposed plan to make college debt-free.

Sanders: Sanders’ plan would require public institutions to meet 100 percent of the financial need for the lowest-income students. His plan would also significantly expand the federal work study program.

Cruz: Cruz supports giving control of financial aid programs to states, rather than the federal government, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Kasich: Kasich has not released a plan related to student aid programs or how they should be funded, according to NASFAA.

Trump: It is unclear whether Trump has a plan related to student aid programs.

Jordana Rubin | Digital Design Editor

Campus sexual assault

Clinton: Clinton has proposed increasing sexual violence prevention education programs that center around issues such as consent and bystander intervention. She also supports increasing counseling and health care support to sexual assault survivors.

Sanders: Sanders said at an Iowa forum in January that he supports programs similar to the ones Clinton has proposed, but he also said that sexual assault on campus is a “very serious crime” that should be dealt with by police.

Cruz: It is unclear whether Cruz has a plan related to campus sexual assault, but as a student at Princeton University in the early 1990s, he worked on implementing anti-rape programs — something he cited in a December 2014 interview with Business Insider.

Kasich: At a recent town hall event in Watertown, New York, Kasich told a woman worried about sexual violence at St. Lawrence University — where she is enrolled — that she should avoid parties where there is a lot of alcohol. He also said students should know how to report sexual assault privately and access rape kits.

Trump: It is unclear whether Trump has a policy toward addressing campus sexual assault.

Published on April 18, 2016 at 11:19 pm

Contact Michael: mdburk01@syr.edu