Clinton offers plan to freeze some college debt, cut tuition

(Reuters) – Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton on Wednesday proposed a temporary freeze on some student debt and the cutting of college tuition entirely for some families, focusing on an issue important to supporters of her rival Bernie Sanders.

Clinton’s latest proposal includes a three-month moratorium for federal student loan payments and a new measure to eliminate in-state college tuition for families whose income does not exceed $125,000, according to a release from her campaign. The proposal builds on her earlier plan for easing student debt loads for higher education.

Clinton, the former secretary of state and presumptive Democratic Party nominee, is looking to win over supporters of Sanders, the Vermont senator who was her main opponent for the nomination as he consistently sought to push the party left.

The presumptive Republican nominee, businessman Donald Trump, also has courted Sanders’ voters, trying to use his outsider appeal to bring them over to his campaign.

On Wednesday, Clinton proposed using executive action to offer a three-month moratorium on student loan payments to all federal loan borrowers to offer help for borrowers to consolidate loans and find other methods to reduce their payments.

She previously has released proposals to increase access to tuition grants, push for income-based repayments, and – like Sanders – to allow graduates to refinance student loans at lower interest rates.

Sanders praised the new Clinton measures on Wednesday, saying in a statement that he wanted “to take this opportunity to applaud Secretary Clinton.”

(Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Bill Trott)