Summary

The next aspect of Sanders’ platform discusses the nation’s need for affordable access to higher education. Again, Sanders enlists commonsense practices in this chapter to stress the importance of quality and affordable education to American students who are willing and qualified. Like America’s health care system, the nation’s educational system is simply not up to par with foreign competition. This fear compared with college graduates’ crippling amount of debt prompted Sanders to make universal higher education a pillar of his campaign’s platform.

Sanders alludes to the profound effect his campaign had on his view of the younger generation. Most of the young people he spoke with were enthusiastic about progressive government reform, yet they had serious concerns about student loan debt, job security, and the overall state of the union. These concerns prompted Sanders to adopt a...