Vote is Power. If you earn $120,000 or less, you're the American majority — about 9 in 10 wage earners (SSA, 2023).
Vote is Power emblem120K or LessAmerica's Working Majority

The Current Situation

The starting line now comes with a loan officer

Average published in-state tuition and fees at public four-year universities run about $11,610 a year (College Board, 2024-25). Across four years, tuition and fees alone approach $46,000 — nearly a full year of the median American wage, which was about $48,000 in 2023 (SSA). And that is before housing, books, or food.

$11,610Average in-state public university tuition & fees, per yearCollege Board, 2024-25
≈$46,000Four years of that tuition & fees, before housing or booksArithmetic from College Board, 2024-25
$1.6T+Total U.S. student loan debt outstandingFederal Reserve, 2024
$48,000Median U.S. wage earner's net compensation, aboutSocial Security Administration, 2023

Four years of public tuition vs. one year of median wages

Tuition and fees alone for a four-year in-state degree now rival what the median worker earns in an entire year.

One year, in-state tuition & fees (College Board, 2024-25) $11,610 Four years, tuition & fees alone (arithmetic from the same) ≈ $46,000 Median U.S. wage, one year (SSA, 2023) ≈ $48,000

Sources: College Board, 2024-25 (average published in-state tuition & fees, public four-year); Social Security Administration wage statistics, 2023. Four-year figure is simple multiplication of the annual average, shown for scale.

Why It Matters

Debt is a decision-maker. It shouldn't be.

Americans now carry over $1.6 trillion in student loan debt (Federal Reserve, 2024). Behind that number are working people whose monthly payment votes first — before the house, before the wedding, before the small business, before the kids. A payment that follows you for decades changes what you can say yes to.

We think of tuition-free public college the way earlier generations thought of free public high school: not as a giveaway, but as a workforce investment a serious country makes in its own people. The economy that working Americans carry — the nurses, electricians, teachers, coders, welders, and technicians — runs on skills. Charging the working majority a year's wages at the door is a strange way to build a workforce.

A high school diploma was once enough to buy the American middle-class life. Wherever the new starting line sits — campus, community college, or union hall — it should be open without a loan.

And this is bigger than universities. Millions of good American lives are built through apprenticeships, certificates, community college, and on-the-job training. Our platform treats those roads as equal citizens — same dignity, same public backing. College is one road, not the only road, and we refuse the snobbery that says otherwise.

Recognition, not pity. If you are working shifts around night classes, or paying a loan for a degree you never got to finish, you are not a cautionary tale. You did what the system asked. Our position is that the system should ask less of your wallet and more of itself.

Our Position

Tuition-free public college — and the trades on the same footing

This is an advocacy position of 120K or Less. It states a destination we believe in; the financing routes will be published, costed, and put to a member vote.

We support

Tuition-free four-year public college for Americans — public institutions, public investment, open doors. Private universities remain private; this plank is about the public system the working majority already owns.

We insist

Trades, apprenticeships, community colleges, and workforce certificates stand as equal citizens — carrying the same public commitment as the four-year degree. A master electrician is not a fallback plan.

We frame it

As a workforce investment, not a subsidy. We believe an economy short of nurses, teachers, tradespeople, and technicians should stop charging its own future workforce a year's wages in tuition at the door.

We are honest

Tuition-free is not cost-free. Someone pays, and any proposal worth your vote must say who and how much. We commit to publishing costed proposals with our assumptions shown before we ask anyone to march behind them.

American workers building — the workforce this education investment serves
One road among many: campus, community college, apprenticeship, union hall — all equal citizens.

What It Would Mean

For a working family, the door opens

The tuition bill leaves the kitchen table
Today, in-state tuition and fees average about $11,610 a year (College Board, 2024-25). Under our proposal that line goes to zero at public four-year institutions. Families would still plan for housing, books, and food — we won't pretend otherwise — but the largest fixed academic cost would be gone.
The trades get the same handshake
The student who chooses an apprenticeship or a workforce certificate would carry the same public backing as the one who chooses a lecture hall. Equal citizens means equal investment — in tools, instructors, and training hours, not just tuition.
The next generation starts at zero, not below it
With more than $1.6 trillion in student debt already outstanding (Federal Reserve, 2024), we believe the least a country can do is stop adding to the pile as the price of showing up prepared for work.
An illustrative example — not a real member. A student starting at an average-priced in-state public university this year faces about $11,610 in tuition and fees annually (College Board, 2024-25) — roughly $46,000 over four years, by simple arithmetic. Under our proposal, that bill is $0, and the family's planning starts at housing and books instead of a loan application. Illustrative use of a cited national average; individual prices vary by state and school.

Where This Stands

An honest accounting of where we are

This plank is a stated goal of a movement in formation — not current law, and not a promise of anyone's individual outcome. Here is the road as we see it.

  • Today — a destination, plainly statedTuition-free four-year public college, with trades and workforce training as equal citizens, is our advocacy position. Several states already run tuition-free community college programs; a national four-year commitment would have to learn from what they've built.
  • Before launch — the homeworkWe commit to publishing costed proposals: what tuition-free public college and equal trades investment would cost, who would pay, and the strongest honest arguments against — alongside the ones for.
  • At launch — members decide the routeOne member, one vote. The design details — phase-in, state partnerships, how existing debt is addressed — will be shaped by member votes, not handed down.

Common questions

Does this cover private colleges?
No. Our position covers public four-year institutions — the system taxpayers already own — along with community colleges, apprenticeships, and workforce training. Private universities would continue setting their own prices.
What about people already carrying student debt?
More than $1.6 trillion is outstanding (Federal Reserve, 2024), and we won't wave that away. The movement has not yet adopted a position on existing debt — under our one-member-one-vote structure, that question belongs to members at launch. What we can say now: any answer we advance will be published, costed, and argued honestly.
Is "free college" fair to people who never go?
That's exactly why our plank refuses to stop at campuses. Equal citizenship for apprenticeships, certificates, and workforce training means the public investment follows the welder and the nurse's aide as surely as the engineering student. A workforce investment has to reach the whole workforce — that's the test we will hold every proposal to.
Who pays for it?
The public — which is why we owe you the arithmetic before we ask for your support. We commit to publishing costed proposals with assumptions shown, and to presenting the strongest counterarguments beside them. If the numbers don't survive daylight, they don't deserve your vote.

Keep Reading

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A worker's paycheck — federal income tax relief plank

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Reduce or eliminate federal income tax for earners at $120,000 or less — while fully maintaining Social Security and Medicare payroll funding.

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Affordable Healthcare

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A small business at work — economic opportunity plank

Economic Opportunity

Better-paying jobs, lower cost of living, affordable housing, and workforce training that leads somewhere real.

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Your Work. Your Voice. Your Future.

Open the starting line

If you believe a kid's future shouldn't be priced at a year of their parents' wages — and that a union apprenticeship deserves the same respect as a university seat — you already belong here. Membership is free, and every member gets one vote.

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