Billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban ripped Hillary Rodham Clinton’s $350 billion college tuition plan as “backwards,” arguing it will probably increase the amount of money students owe rather than be a viable solution to skyrocketing student debt.
Mrs. Clinton announced last week a plan to make community college tuition-free and enable students to attend a four-year public college without taking out loans for tuition.
On Friday, via his CyberDust app, Mr. Cuban said the Democratic presidential candidate’s plan “stands a better chance of increasing the amount of money students owe than decreasing it,” The Federalist reported.
“How?” he asked. “Just as easy money led to the real estate bubble a few years ago, the easier it is to borrow money for college, the easier it is for colleges to raise tuition. Tuition keeps going up because no matter how high they raise it, students can still borrow more to pay for it.”
The “Shark Tank” star blasted Mrs. Clinton’s plan for failing to require a change in how a school receiving funds operates.
“They can still waste money. A lot of it,” he argued. “Competition for new students is fierce. So schools spend billions on perks they think will attract students and donors. They build new buildings, gyms, food courts, dorms, anything that they think provides drive up curb appeal to prospective students. To manage all of the above they hire more and more expensive administrative positions. All of which do nothing to improve education. Instead they just provide justification to increase tuition. If you meet a rich person who gave money to build a new building at your alma mater, don’t thank them. Explain that the maintenance of that structure and the people who manage it are going to increase tuition for future generations.”
Offering his own solution, Mr. Cuban added, “I would like to see a limit on the amount of private loans a parent or relative can take out or co-sign per year per student.”
“I’m open to anything that reduces the amount of cash available to students to pay for school,” he said, The Federalist reported. “That won’t reduce the number of students who will go to college. It will reduce the amount of money they have to pay to go as colleges reduce tuitions to be more competitive.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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