It’s good to get back on track this week with a candidate that is actively thinking about college education. According to Hillary Clinton’s Web site, her plans include creating a $3500 college tax credit, investing $500 million dollars into community colleges, developing “a graduation fund to increase college graduation rates,” and increasing the Pell Grant’s maximum.

Like Obama and Edwards (when he was in the race), Clinton wants to simplify the financial aid application process. She also wants to hold colleges accountable for their costs by setting up a cost index and by having a “truth in tuition disclosure.” Lastly, she wants to challenge selective colleges to expand access to low-income students.

Perhaps I didn’t spend enough time praising Obama for being thorough (although I did write two posts about him). Quite frankly, I don’t know what Clinton is talking about for a number of her points. What is a “truth in tuition disclosure?” Does this mean that colleges will have to file a disclosure to the public? Does she mean that private schools will have to do this? I imagine that a lot of public schools already have to show their costs, although I may be mistaken.

And what exactly is the $500 million going to do for community colleges. You’ve read how strongly I support community college, but I want to know more about how those dollars are going to be spent. Otherwise, money has a way of getting sidetracked into pet projects. Her graduation fund is incredibly ambiguous. How is a fund going to increase college graduation rates? How will the money be used?

Really, Clinton should copy her transcript from her interview with “The Chronicle” to her Web site because we get so much more out of it and can see the depth of Clinton’s higher education understanding. In the Chronicle’s interview, we discover that she’s a supporter of the non-traditional student, whom she sees becoming the new traditional student. She wants to raise the Pell Grant to a maximum of $11,500. Like Obama, she wants to shift more loans from the private lender subsidies into the Federal government’s direct lending program, although this continues to be a point of questionable gains with many people.

Superficially, most of this sounds good, but I don’t see much explanation of implementation, which is the most critical part. Plus, it looks expensive, and much like Obama, Clinton is going to inherit a big war debt and have to fund a massive health care program if she gets elected. Jumping Pell Grants to over ten grand doesn’t materialize out of nowhere, so I have to ask the question, where is the money coming from?

It’s great to see Clinton’s commitment to higher education. Although at the end of the day, I’d like more commitment to financial details.