Subject: Re: REVISED DRAFT: college rollout
From: "Ann O'Leary" <[email-masked]>
To: Megan Rooney <[email-masked]>
Cc: Speech Drafts <[email-masked]>, Katie Connolly <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 23:10:11 -0700
List-Id: <speechdrafts.hillaryclinton.com>

This is really good, Megan.  I've offered a few suggestions to make sure we
are a bit stronger on accountability, we lead with our promise to families
and students when we describe our compact, and we highlight innovation and
on-line learning a bit more.

Thanks to Mandy and Joel - agree their framing and feedback was very
helpful - I tried not to wonk it up, just refined at the edges.

On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 4:46 PM, Megan Rooney <[email-masked]>
wrote:

> Hi all!  Attached is a revised draft for Monday’s college rollout event in
> NH.  You’ll see it’s a lot leaner and meaner than the draft I sent around
> this morning.  I spent a really helpful hour-plus on the phone with Mandy
> and Joel and they had great guidance.
>
>
>
> If you could get me any edits by noon tomorrow, I’d appreciate it.  Thanks!
>
>
>
> **
>
>
>
> *HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON*
>
> *REMARKS ON COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY AND STUDENT DEBT*
>
> *EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE*
>
> *MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015*
>
>
>
> It’s wonderful to be back in Exeter.  Thank you, Danny, for that
> introduction.  And thank you all for coming out today.  I’ve been traveling
> all over New Hampshire, and everywhere I go – from Dover to Nashua to Glen
> to Windham – people ask great questions.  It must come from being the first
> primary state.  So today, I want to talk for just a little bit, and then I
> want to hear what’s on your mind.
>
>
>
> This election is about the choices we have to make as a country, and how
> they’ll shape our children’s and grandchildren’s futures.  I believe that,
> in America, if you work hard and do your part, you should be able to get
> ahead and stay ahead.  That’s the basic bargain that’s always set our
> nation apart.  And I want to make sure we keep that bargain and strengthen
> it, so it holds true for this generation and the next.
>
>
>
> Thanks to your hard work – and the hard work of people across the country
> – America has come back from the worst recession of our lifetimes.  We’re
> standing again.  But we’re not yet running the way we should.  Corporate
> profits are near record highs – but most paychecks have barely budged.
> Costs for everything from childcare to prescription drugs are rising faster
> than wages. It’s no wonder so many Americans feel like the deck is stacked
> in favor of those at the top.
>
>
>
> We’ve got to do better.  We’ve got to get incomes rising again, so more
> hard-working families can afford a middle-class life.  We need strong
> growth… fair growth… and long-term growth.  *That’s* how we’ll achieve
> lasting prosperity – by building an economy that we *all* have a stake
> in, and that works for *everyone*.
>
>
>
> Today, I want to talk about one way we do that:  *by making college
> affordable and available to every American.*
>
>
>
> For millions of Americans, a college degree has been the ticket to a
> better life.  My grandfather worked his entire life in a lace mill – but my
> dad made it to college and was able to start his own small business, and
> that made a huge difference in our lives.  Then my parents scrimped and
> saved for years, so they could send me to a school across the country.
> They knew that they were setting me on the path to a better future.
> College still holds that promise today.  A lot has changed in this country
> – but that hasn’t.
>
>
>
> Across America, parents are starting college funds the day their kids are
> born.  High-schoolers – even middle-schoolers – are taking college prep
> courses and studying for the SAT.  Full-time workers are going to night
> school, even if that means heading straight from an eight-hour shift to a
> pile of homework.  If that’s what it takes to get a better job – to give
> their kids better than they had – then they’ll do it.
>
>
>
> But here’s the problem.  States are slashing education budgets.  Colleges
> keep raising prices.  In-state tuition and fees for public colleges
> increased by *55 percent *between 2003 and 2012.  But your incomes didn’t
> rise by that much, did they?  So families are left facing a painful
> choice.  Either you say, “We just can’t afford it,” and pass up on all the
> opportunities that a degree can offer – or you do whatever it takes to pay
> for it, even if that means going deeply into debt.
>
>
>
> And more and more, that debt is holding people back.  Forty million
> Americans have student loans.  Together, they owe more than a trillion
> dollars.  New Hampshire’s students are carrying the highest debt in the
> country.  And millions of Americans are delinquent or in default.  Even if
> they’re doing everything they can to pay their loans, they just can’t keep
> up.
>
>
>
> The cost of this debt is real – not just on balance sheets, but in
> people’s lives and futures.  I’ve talked to people who have so much student
> debt, they’ve put off buying a house, changing jobs, starting a business –
> even getting married.  I’ve met parents and grandparents who’ve co-signed
> loans and end up draining their savings or ruining their credit – all
> because they did what parents and grandparents are supposed to do – help
> out the next generation.
>
>
>
> There are students who take out loans to pay for an expensive degree from
> a for-profit institution – then graduate and discover that, when it comes
> to finding a job, their degree isn’t worth what they thought it would.
>
>
>
> And the 40 percent of students who never finish college are left with debt
> and no degree to show for it – the worst of both worlds.  And that
> non-completion rate should trouble to all of us.  It’s the highest in the
> developed world.
>
>
>
> College is supposed to help people achieve their dreams.  But more and
> more, it’s pushing people’s dreams further out of reach.  And that’s just
> wrong.  It’s a betrayal of everything college is supposed to represent –
> and everything families have worked so hard to achieve.
>
>
>
> This is also about our national competitiveness.  The rest of the world is
> working as hard as they can to out-do us.  China plans to double the number
> of students enrolled in college by 2030, which means they’ll have nearly
> 200 million college graduates.  That’s more than our entire workforce!
> American workers can out-work and out-innovate anyone in the world – as
> long as they get the training and education they need to compete.
>
>
>
> So we need to make some big changes.  We need to transform how much higher
> education costs – and how those costs get paid.  For too long, families
> have had to bear the burden of soaring prices, underinvestment, and too
> little accountability.
>
>
>
> *It’s time for a new college compact, where everyone does their part.  We
> need to make a quality education affordable and available to everyone
> willing to work for it.*
>
>
>
> I’ve been traveling the country for months, talking to students and
> families, educators, legislators, and experts of every stripe – including
> young progressive activists who’ve put the issue of debt-free college and
> college affordability at the top of the national agenda.
>
>
>
> And today, I’m announcing my plan to put college within reach for
> everyone.  We’re calling it the New College Compact.  And we’re posting it
> on our website, Facebook, Medium, Snapchat – just about everywhere we can
> think of.  I hope you’ll check it out.  But for now, here are the basics.
>
>
>
> Under the New College Compact, schools will have to control their costs
> and show more accountability to their students.
>
>
>
> States will have to meet their obligation to invest in higher education.
>
>
>
> The federal government will never profit off student loans.
>
>
>
> No family – and no student – should have to borrow to pay tuition at a
> public college.
>
>
>
> And everyone who has student debt will be able to refinance it at lower
> rates.
>
>
>
> That’s my plan.  It’s ambitious – and we should be ambitious.  But it’s
> also achievable.  And it would make a big difference in people’s lives.
>
>
>
> My College Compact comes down to two main goals.
>
>
>
> *First, we’ll make sure that cost won’t be a barrier**. *
>
>
>
> Under my plan, you’ll never have to take out a loan to pay for tuition at
> an in-state public university.  We’re going to make community college free
> – that’s President Obama’s plan and we’re making it ours too.  We’re
> reforming Pell Grants, so students can use them for living costs as well as
> tuition.  We’re offering special help to college students who are parents,
> because when you help a parent get an education, you’re helping their kids,
> too.
>
>
>
> We’re going to work with historically black colleges and universities,
> because they serve some of America’s brightest students, who need the most
> support and too often have gotten the least of it.  And we’re going to help
> pay for college for students who agree to national service.  If you’re
> willing to tutor America’s kids or clean up our parks, the least we can do
> is support your education.
>
>
>
> *And second, we’ll make sure that debt won’t hold anyone back. *
>
>
>
> Under my plan, every borrower in America who already has student debt will
> get the chance to refinance at lower interest rates.  If you can refinance
> your mortgage or your car loan, you should be able to refinance your
> student loan.
>
>
>
> If you do still end up taking out a loan – for example, to go to a private
> college – we’ll cut your interest rates, so the government never makes a
> profit off your loan.
>
>
>
> We’ll make it easier to enroll in income-based repayment programs, so
> you’ll never have to pay more than 10 percent of what you make.
>
>
>
> We’re going to help borrowers who are in default get back on their feet.
> And we’ll crack down on predatory schools and lenders and bill collectors.
> If you defraud students, overcharge veterans, or mislead borrowers, we’re
> going to do everything we can to stop you.
>
>
>
> There’s a lot more in my College Compact – from encouraging innovations
> like online learning and apprenticeships, so students can earn their degree
> in less time and move straight into a job… to strengthening the G.I. Bill,
> so more of our veterans can get their degree... to making sure colleges
> spending federal dollars on things that benefit students, like teaching and
> research – not marketing campaigns or big salaries for administrators.
>
>
>
> I plan to make college affordability a major issue in this campaign –
> because it’s a major issue for millions of American families.  Here’s the
> bottom line.  An education shouldn’t be something just for those at the
> top.  And it shouldn't be a burden.  An education should be affordable –
> and available – to everyone.
>
>
>
> I remember how proud my parents were when I graduated college.  I remember
> how proud Bill and I were to see Chelsea graduate – I’ll never forget how
> grown-up she looked that day.  And even though my new granddaughter is
> already growing up faster than I’d like, I can’t wait to see her walk
> across a stage someday and receive her diploma. And I know that mothers and
> fathers and grandparents across the country feel the exact same way.
>
>
>
> I want every young person in America to have their shot at that moment.  I
> want every hard-working parent out there to get the chance to see his or
> her child cross a stage – or to cross it themselves.  America should be a
> place where those achievements are possible for anyone who’s willing to
> work hard to do their part.  That’s the country I want to help build – for
> this generation and all the generations to come.
>
>
>
> Thank you very much.  And now, let’s hear from you.
>
>
>

-- 
Ann O'Leary
Senior Policy Advisor
Hillary for America
Cell: 510-717-5518