Dive Brief:
- Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton revealed a student debt deferment and reduction plan to support the creation of more than 50,000 new small businesses across the country.
- The plan calls for student loan deferment for up to three years and loan debt reductions in excess of $17,000 for graduates who look to create businesses after college, and specifically in economically “distressed” areas.
- The plan was a part of Clinton’s larger technology platform proposal, which also pledged new federal funding for colleges creating specialized degree programs in coding, nanotechnology and other emerging STEM fields.
Dive Insight:
Like most presidential platforms, Clinton’s latest big reveal is big on promises but short on how it will be translated into congressionally-approved budgets if she is elected in November. And while some of the student loan items appear promising, beneath the surface, they are problematic in promoting real economic support for all new college graduates.
The deferment and debt reduction plans reward business creators, but offers no support for students who simply get jobs after graduation. It is the hazy entry-level years between college and professional mobility that often find new professionals making hard choices about purchases, graduate school and where they will live. For career development staff and faculty members trying to help students put bows on their college careers, the political spin on an important topic facing millennial graduates does not make their jobs any easier.