Connecticut education Commissioner Miguel Cardona says he’ll prioritize student loan debt relief if he’s confirmed as U.S. education secretary

Connecticut education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, selected by President Joe Biden to be the next U.S. education secretary, made clear in a Monday morning radio interview that, if confirmed by the Senate, he will prioritize student loan debt relief and “supports 100%” no-cost community college.

He also said Americans will see a strong national strategy drive school reopenings across the country.

“While I do have a pre-K-12 background — and that’s an area of passion for me — I recognize as a first-generation college student myself the importance of higher education and the importance of making it accessible,” Cardona told WNPR’s Lucy Nalpathanchil on the station’s “Where We Live” program.

Cardona, a Meriden native, is well-known for his commitment to keeping grade schools open during the pandemic and work to close opportunity gaps among young students. But if confirmed, he will also have to follow through on Biden’s higher education campaign promises — which include making public colleges and universities tuition-free for all families with incomes below $125,000 and more than halving payments on undergraduate federal student loans.

Biden also promised to automatically enroll public servants in a new loan forgiveness program that would offer $10,000 of student debt relief for every year of national or community service, for up to five years.

Student loan debt totals about $1.68 trillion in the U.S., with nearly 45 million Americans owing an average of $37,584 each, according to EducationData.org. In Connecticut, residents owe a total of $16.3 billion in student loan debt.

While Biden has already extended the freeze on federal student loan payments through at least September due to COVID-19, Nalpathanchil pointed out that some advocates are saying that policy alone is not enough and “they want to see loan forgiveness.”

Cardona said he recognized the importance of access to higher education, a “pathway to continued success.”

“I would work with our senators and our Congress folks to support a plan that provides some relief for our students in higher education,” he said, adding that they must “make sure we’re targeting support to those students that need it the most.”

Cardona said if he is fortunate enough to be confirmed, community colleges will have to play a bigger role in providing access to higher education — another one of Biden’s priorities.

“We have to blur the lines between our pre-K-12 system and our higher education system, and make them more seamless,” Cardona said. “From the perspective of the consumer of education, it has to be clearer, it has to be an easier reach. Community colleges play that role.”

In Connecticut, enrollment in community colleges and dorm occupancy at the state’s regional universities dropped during the pandemic, leading to a “dire” financial situation and increased budget cuts throughout the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. However, some Connecticut high school seniors who were planning to leave the state before COVID-19 say they are interested in starting at a local community college instead to save money before transferring to a public university.

Speaking on a nationwide scale, Cardona said: “The connection of the community colleges and the four-year colleges also has to be made tighter, so that students who do take courses in a community college are able to ... transfer the credits to four-year colleges to continue their learning.”

He added: " We really have to make it more accessible, not only for our pre-K-12 system. ... There are a lot of adults in our communities that would welcome the opportunity to engage in higher learning through our community colleges, or think about career advancement.”

Regarding school reopenings during the pandemic, Cardona highlighted the need for clear federal guidance and funding for mitigation strategies to contain the virus at the state and local levels. Cardona explained “the education COVID-19 team” regularly communicates with their White House counterparts to make sure there is “one message, one plan.”

“I think the American people are going to see that the national strategy is going to be driving a lot of the efforts at the local level,” he said.

From his time in Connecticut, Cardona said he learned the importance of working closely with public health officials and educators.

“At the national level, that’s critically important, that we work with CDC, that we work with Health and Human Services, to make sure that the decisions that are being made around schools are in line with what we know to protect people,” he said. “I also know that ... educators need a seat at the table, to have conversations about what they’re seeing, how they’re experiencing it and how we can work collaboratively to make sure that we’re tight on messaging around those mitigation strategies that are prerequisites to opening schools.”

Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com.