It’s become one of the main litmus tests of the 2020 presidential race: What are you going to do about student debt?Depending on which Democratic presidential hopeful you ask, that answer can vary from big proposals like forgiving student debt to small ones like offering more-affordable community college. The reason it’s become such a hot topic: Student debt, most people agree, has escalated to a crisis-level in the United States.Student debt in the United States has skyrocketed since 2006. Americans have racked up an astonishing $1.5 trillion in student debt. The situation has gotten so out of control that millennials aren’t buying homes, or starting small businesses. More than 2 million people have debt that exceeds $100,000, according to the Federal Reserve.Democrats’ positions offer a sharp contrast with the president, whose budget proposal calls for ending student loan forgiveness programs for public employees, reducing the Education Department’s budget, and cutting the options for repayment plans.Here’s what top 2020 Democrats have planned as they gear up to take on Trump.It’s the most radical proposal yet from a 2020 candidate on student debt. Warren says she would fund the idea with her wealth tax proposal. Warren has plans to officially unveil legislation for her student debt plan in the coming days.READ: Here's where the 2020 Democrats stand on:“We need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all our children,” Biden told reporters. “We all know that 12 years of public education is not enough. As a nation let’s make the same commitment to a college education today that we made to a high school education 100 years ago.”His legislative track record, however, is a bit more spotty. In 2005, Biden was a U.S. senator for Delaware, and he famously sparred with his now-2020 opponent Warren, not yet a politician but a legal scholar, over his support of a bankruptcy bill that included a provision that exempted private student loans from bankruptcy.Biden’s campaign did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment.That’s true: Harris, as attorney general of California, led the prosecution against Corinthian Colleges in 2016 that resulted in the for-profit institution having to pay $1 billion for misleading students.It is not clear if she supports debt forgiveness. Harris’ office did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment.“If we're going to move in the direction of forgiveness, to have it be tied to income and not just some kind of blanket thing that makes no distinction between folks who are going to be just fine and are on their way to being in the 1%, and people who are struggling in the middle class and almost being punished for the fact that they got an education and used it to benefit others,” he told VICE’s Allie Conti in March.Her biggest idea is her so-called National Public Service Plan, a markedly less ambitious proposal than her most progressive opponents’ that would offer two years of tuition-free education to young people at community college or public universities.In one March 2018 tweet, he said, "Our country now has more student loan debt than credit card debt. We should allow Texans who commit to working in in-demand fields and in underserved communities the chance to graduate debt free.”Like a few other candidates, O’Rourke also advocates for eliminating debt for students who go into public services. It’s unclear which career paths would be included in O’Rourke’s plan that doesn’t quite check out.“Let’s graduate young women and men from high school who are career ready as well as college ready, able to pursue debt-free higher education or a job that provides purpose and a real paycheck,” is the only instance when college debt is addressed, though not completely resolved nor specified, on his campaign website.O’Rourke’s campaign didn’t respond to VICE News’ request for comment.Cover: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) waves to the audience during the Black Economic Alliance Forum on June 15, 2019 in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
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Elizabeth Warren
- Free undergraduate tuition: Yes
- Debt cancellation: Yes
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Bernie Sanders
- Free undergraduate tuition: Yes
- Debt cancellation: Unclear
Joe Biden
- Free undergraduate tuition: Unclear
- Debt cancellation: Unclear
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Kamala Harris
- Free undergraduate tuition: Unclear
- Debt cancellation: Unclear
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Pete Buttigieg
- Free undergraduate tuition: No
- Debt cancellation: No
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Amy Klobuchar
- Free undergraduate tuition: No
- Debt cancellation: No
Kirsten Gillibrand
- Free undergraduate tuition: Unclear
- Debt cancellation: No
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Jay Inslee
- Free undergraduate tuition: No
- Debt cancelation: Unclear
Cory Booker
- Free undergraduate tuition: Unclear
- Debt cancellation: Unclear
Beto O’Rourke
- Free undergraduate tuition: No
- Debt cancellation: Unclear
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