From the Heritage Foundation, I'm Michelle Cordero, and I'm Emily Vanderbush, and this is Mass Ave.

I actually remember the very moment when I realized we didn't have enough money for me to go to college.

I was in the car with my mom, and we were headed to a restaurant for dinner. I was in middle school, probably sixth or seventh grade, and while I always knew our society's

timeline, after middle school I would go to high school and after high school I would go to college.

It wasn't until that very moment like a light bulb turned on.

I realized that college cost money and we didn't have a lot of it.

When we got to the restaurant, I asked my mom, who likely wasn't expecting this difficult question,

was I going to get to go to college, and how were we going to pay for it?

I remember she calmly told me not to worry, and we would figure it out.

I asked her recently about that day, and she remembered it too.

She told me she was actually terrified and unsure of how we would make it work.

But we did figure it out.

I went to a small state school. I worked after class, and on the weekends, and I took out loans.

Loans I still have over a decade later.

There are many stories just like mine.

Many with far more difficult circumstances.

In fact, my story is average.

Americans owe almost $1.5 trillion in student loan debt.

Spread out around about 44 million borrowers.

That is a lot of money.

All of this being said,

when political candidates throw out the idea of a free college tuition

...