The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Roberta Lange stated on June 22, 2016 in a press release: Says Donald Trump \"literally has no plans to make higher education more affordable.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-true/4ac7c61540eff5211f6a04d98a6bc93a.jpg.\\") ![\\"mostly- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Nevada * Education * Roberta Lange By Riley Snyder June 28, 2016 # Nevada Democrats correct in attacking Donald Trump\'s nonexistent plan to reduce cost of college What would Donald Trump do to lower the cost of higher education as president? Absolutely nothing, says Nevada Democratic Party chairwoman Roberta Lange, who along with fellow Democrats has constantly berated Trump in press conferences and news releases. Here’s what she said after a Moody’s report claimed Trump’s proposed economic policies would result in millions of lost jobs and a contracting economy. \"He says ‘wages are too high’ and has literally no plans to make higher education more affordable,\" she said in a press release. So is it true that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has \"literally no plans\" to make higher education more affordable? After reviewing the candidate’s stated policy positions and various media appearances, we’re pretty confident in saying that Trump has no clearly defined plan to reduce the cost of higher education. Schooling Trump Higher education reform and student loan debt are not detailed on Trump’s campaign website — his \"Issues\" and \"Positions\" pages don’t touch on education outside of two short videos of the candidate promising to repeal Common Core. (The federal government is prohibited from directing states to adopt or not adopt the standards.) The Trump campaign didn’t return emails seeking comment, but the candidate has mentioned student loan debt and the rising cost of college on a few occasions. In a 22-second Twitter video from last year, Trump called student loan debt a \"tremendous problem,\" but he only made a vague promise to \"restructure\" it and make college more affordable. Trump also indirectly addressed rising student loan debt during a question- and-answer session with students at Simpson College in Iowa, acknowledging it as a \"huge problem\" but identifying job creation and \"great leadership\" as ways to fix the problem. But other than a handful of interviews, Trump hasn’t described how exactly he’d make college more affordable. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a campaign event in North Carolina Project 2025 would “end Head Start.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" true/3d4df195c595a07e3fd69b5e4aab3e3c.jpg.\\") ![\\"true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 23, 2024 It’s a far cry from 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who in May 2012 released a 35-page white paper in part detailing his plans to reshape higher education policy. And 2008 GOP nominee John McCain also proposed several specific higher education policy changes on his campaign website. Trump’s likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has spoken at length about her plans for higher education. She released her \"New College Compact\" plan in August 2015. The closest thing the Trump campaign has to a \"higher education plan\" was revealed in a Inside Higher Ed interview with Trump’s national co-chairman and policy director, Sam Clovis. Clovis said a Trump administration would focus on overhauling the student loan system by transitioning the responsibility for lending from the government to private banks, and floated the idea of basing loan eligibility on which majors college students pick. \"If you are going to study 16th century French art, more power to you. I support the arts,\" Clovis said in a May interview. \"But you are not going to get a job.\" So Trump’s closest thing to a higher education \"plan\" is returning to a system where private banks, not the federal government, would extend loans to students while requiring colleges to have more \"skin in the game.\" As PolitiFact has previously reported, the federal government in 1965 took several steps to help more students attend college, including guaranteeing loans against default and promising a set interest rate to banks extending the loans to students. That changed in 2010, when Democrats approved a new law cutting out the bank subsidies and replacing them with direct loans overseen by federal agencies and funded by the U.S. Treasury. High-profile critics like Trump and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. D-Mass., have panned the change as generating profit on the backs of over-burdened college students, but it’s not clear that a shift to the old system or Trump’s proposal would make college cheaper. Our ruling Nevada Democratic Party chair Roberta Lange says Donald Trump \"literally has no plans to make higher education more affordable.\" Trump hasn’t released any sort of traditional higher education reform plan — much less any details on how to make college more affordable — unlike Clinton, Romney and McCain. However, Trump has commented several times on the spiraling cost of student loan debt and said he doesn’t want the federal government making a profit on the backs of students. For Trump\'s lack of specifics, we rate Lange\'s statement Mostly True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Email interview with Stewart Boss, NV Dems spokesman, June 27, 2016 USA Today, \"This is Trump\'s stance on student loans — and it could hurt poor students,\" June 22, 2016 Nevada Democrats, \"NV DEMS CHAIR: DONALD TRUMP WOULD BE AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER FOR NEVADA’S ECONOMY,\" June 21, 2016 CNBC, \"Trump\'s policies would cause \'lengthy recession\': Moody\'s,\" June 21, 2016 Inside Higher Ed, \"Trump\'s Emerging Higher Ed Platform,\" May 13, 2016 U.S. News & World Report, \"GOP Candidates Probably Can\'t Repeal Common Core,\" March 4, 2016 YouTube, \"Broken Education System\" Feb. 29, 2016 PolitiFact, \"Uncle Sam is on track to make $66 billion profit off 6 years of student loans, Elizabeth Warren says,\" Oct. 1, 2015 Hillary Clinton campaign website, \"College Compact: Costs Won’t Be a Barrier,\" August 10, 2015 The Hill, \"Trump: Why is federal government making money on student loans?\" July 23, 2015 YouTube, \"Donald Trump on Student Loan Debt,\" April 8, 2015 Inside Higher Ed, \"Romney’s Higher Ed Platform,\" May 24, 2012 Scribd, \"A Chance for Every Child,\" May 23, 2012 PolitiFact, \"Rob Portman says student loan money was used to cover health care reform,\" May 14, 2012 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Riley Snyder ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on October 30, 2016 in a campaign speech.: Says Nevadans will have a \"double-digit hike in their Obamacare premiums for the year\" and \"10 of Nevada’s 16 counties will only have one Obamacare...exchange insurer\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • November 4, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Heck stated on October 25, 2016 in a political ad.: Says \"Catherine Cortez Masto indicted (Brian Krolicki), who was an innocent man, in order to save Harry Reid\'s political career\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • November 1, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Catherine Cortez Masto stated on October 14, 2016 in a Nevada U.S. Senate debate.: Says Joe Heck \"voted to shut down the government.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • October 20, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Hillary Clinton stated on October 20, 2016 in in a debate: Says Donald Trump \"used undocumented labor to build the Trump Tower.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Linda Qiu • October 20, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Hillary Clinton stated on October 19, 2016 in the third 2016 presidential debate: \"What the District of Columbia was trying to do (with its handgun ban) was to protect toddlers from guns.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • October 20, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Lesley Cohen stated on September 24, 2016 in a political mail piece.: \"It’s bad enough that (Stephen) Silberkraus appeared in a sexual fetish film where women were kidnapped from their homes and forced to live naked in kennels and trained to be pets. But when Silberkraus isn’t acting in films that degrade women, he’s stalking them in his personal time.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • October 6, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Senate Leadership Fund stated on September 13, 2016 in a television ad: Says \"Catherine Cortez Masto failed Nevada rape victims. While attorney general, thousands of rape kits were never sent for DNA analysis.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • September 28, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" LIBRE Initiative stated on September 13, 2016 in a digital ad: \"Latinos in Nevada support Educational Savings Accounts, helping more than 450,000 students access better schools. But Catherine Cortez Masto is against it.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • September 19, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Catherine Cortez Masto stated on August 29, 2016 in a television ad: Says \"Joe Heck voted 10 times to defund Planned Parenthood ... and Heck opposes a woman\'s right to choose, even when her health is at risk.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • September 6, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Ruben Kihuen stated on August 15, 2016 in a press conference: \"In Congress, (Cresent Hardy) voted to defund DACA.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • August 25, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jacky Rosen stated on May 25, 2016 in in an interview.: On the Iran nuclear deal ![\\"half-flip\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-flip\\"](\\" flip.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • August 23, 2016 ![](\\" people/f9d0e9e5deace7da125d926dd876d72c.jpg\\") ![](\\" people/14e3a9a095401e904b160800ec1b2de4.jpg\\") AFSCME stated on August 10, 2016 in a television ad: \"In Washington, Congressman Joe Heck supports privatizing (Social Security), turning our savings over to Wall Street and risking it on the stock market.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • August 15, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" National Republican Senatorial Committee stated on August 2, 2016 in a television ad: \"In Catherine Cortez Masto\'s last term as attorney general, Nevada murder went up 11 percent, robbery went up 28 percent, rape 51 percent. When Cortez Masto left office, Nevada ranked as America\'s third most dangerous state.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Riley Snyder • August 10, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Jacky Rosen stated on July 20, 2016 in a press release.: Says \"Danny Tarkanian … wants to defund Planned Parenthood and would outlaw a woman\'s right to choose, even in cases of rape or incest.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Riley Snyder • August 4, 2016 ![](\\" ![](\\" Catherine Cortez Masto stated on July 14, 2016 in a news release: \"Just on the issue of immigration alone, it is next to impossible to find a policy difference between (Donald) Trump and Congressman (Joe) Heck.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Riley Snyder • July 28, 2016 ### Nevada Democrats correct in attacking Donald Trump\'s nonexistent plan to reduce cost of college * ![](\\" ![](\\" Debbie Mucarsel-Powell stated on August 7, 2024 in an ad: Sen. Rick Scott does not support abortion exceptions. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Marta Campabadal Graus • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 9, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram: \"Elon Musk anuncia su primera novia (un robot con inteligencia artificial)\". ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: Kamala Harris posted about banning Barron Trump’s friend from X because he wore a “Biden Loves Minors” shirt. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on August 10, 2024 in a Threads post: Video shows former President Donald Trump freezing up. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 11, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram: Video muestra policías entrando en una casa en Inglaterra \"por comentarios en redes sociales\". ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Charlie Kirk stated on August 6, 2024 in a Threads post: “During Covid, Tim Walz rationed access to monoclonal antibody treatments based on skin color.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a speech: J.D. Vance “literally wrote the foreword for the architect of the Project 2025 agenda.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 14, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Jesse Watters stated on August 6, 2024 in a segment on \"Jesse Watters Primetime\": Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “forced schools to stock tampons in boys’ bathrooms.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on August 11, 2024 in an Instagram post: Craigslist ad shows “every single person” at Kamala Harris’ Arizona rally was paid. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • August 13, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 11, 2024 in a post on Truth Social: Photo of Kamala Harris’ Aug. 7 rally near Detroit was AI-generated and “there was nobody there.” Attendees pictured “didn’t exist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Madison Czopek • August 12, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. Become a member! In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts. 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Donald Trump literally has no plans to make higher education more affordable