“Debt-free college” is a new buzz word for Democrats and one leftist outfit has floated a new plan for it.

Eric Owens reports at the Daily Caller.

Progressive Group Outlines Fuzzy Dreams Of Debt-Free College For All

The chorus of calls for debt-free college education has grown steadily more strident among Democrats as the mild summer of 2015 has worn pleasantly on.

Now, Demos.org, a leftist public policy advocacy group, has detailed what progressives expect any debt-free college proposal to look like.

Any proposal must have five main features, the New York City-based policy outfit told The Daily Caller in an email.

First, Demos.org insists, all undergraduate students must have access to debt-free college. Any acceptable policy cannot take into account someone’s high school grades or test scores, for example, or their parents’ or their own incomes. Every student should be able to feed at the public trough.

Second, Demos.org demands, every public undergraduate college and university in every nook and cranny of America must be free.

Third, the progressive group requires, debt-free college must not apply merely to tuition. “All college costs” must be provided by government largesse. Presumably, “all college costs” would definitely include fees and the cost of books. It could also include housing costs, food costs, travel costs and spending money for things like toothpaste and beer.

The fourth demand uses a heaping helping of jargon. Any acceptable free-college plan, Demos.org asserts, must “facilitate all students having equal access to high-quality public education — i.e. incentivizing investment in instruction and student support services.”

Lastly, Demos.org stipulates, debt-free college proposals must “avoid academic hardship for students and economic hardship for everyday families” when calculating the meaning of “debt free.” Poor students shouldn’t be expected to work too much to make ends meet. Middle-class kids and rich kids with fancy cars shouldn’t be “assumed to have savings and disposable cash they do not truly have.”