Paying for college without taking on a mountain of debt is a challenge, which is why Senator Bernie Sanders is fighting to pass legislation that would make public colleges and universities tuition-free.

This past weekend, Rebecca Doucet, ’21, of Barton, VT was a panelist at Bernie Sanders’ “College for All” Town Meeting at Lyndon State College — she was there to offer her thoughts on his free tuition legislation. Rebecca is a first-generation student who participated in Upward Bound at Lyndon State College, a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Education that is committed to providing modest-income first generation college bound students the academic background, college preparatory experiences and support needed to succeed in college.

The dream of attending college remains out of reach for far too many students. Today, the average student takes on more than $30,000 in debt to get a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university. Hear Rebecca’s inspiring comments in this clip.

Thank you Rebecca for sharing this with us and for working with Senator Sanders to promote this legislation!

**Also, every Vermont high school student should know about the many existing scholarships that can help make college more affordable. Learn more in this VSAC document.