Sounds like a pipe dream? It shouldn’t be.

When my dad returned home from flying a B-24 Liberator in WWII, the GI bill was what enabled him to go to school, open a law practice, and support a family.

Today, our kids arenai??i??t getting the same bargain that my dad did.

The majority of students are graduating with significant debt. This is debt big enough for the down payment on a new house. And instead of buying a house or starting a business, recent graduates are struggling not to default on their student loans.

It’s outrageous that we can figure out a way to bail out big banks, but we can’t figure out a way to make college affordable.

In Maryland, we saw this trend, and we refused to give up.Ai??We froze tuition at public four-year institutions, invested in higher education and financial aid, and took steps to make sure our high school students were graduating with a degree thatai??i??s already worth something.

Now it’s time, as a country, that we do even more.Ai??Our ultimate goal should be simple: every student should be able to go to college debt-free.

Today, I’m offering some ideas to tackle this problem of student loan debt head-on.

We can make college affordable, and we can start by making sure our students get a far better deal on their loans.The American Dream shouldn’t come with strings attached. Let’s fight to make college debt-free.

Thank you,

Martin O’Malley