AP FACT CHECK: Clinton overstates her plan for college help

WASHINGTON – A claim from the final presidential debate and how it stacks up with the facts:

CLINTON: “I want to make college debt free.”

THE FACTS: Clinton might aspire to that lofty goal, but she has only proposed making college tuition free for in-state students who go to a public college or university. Even with expanded grant aid, room and board costs can lead to students to borrow.

Clinton would have the government pay for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities for students from families earning less than $125,000 a year. Students would still need to foot the bill for housing and food, which makes up more than half of the average $18,943 sticker price at a four-year public university, according to the College Board.

But Trump was correct when he said that government would shoulder higher costs with Clinton’s plan.

Her plan would cost the federal government an estimated $500 billion over 10 years, with additional costs possibly for state governments.

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Contributed by Associated Press writer Josh Boak.

EDITOR’S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures