A question has emerged in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination: Does every American have the right to a high-quality, low-cost public education?

For those of us who believe it is, it’s time to make public college free for all who wish to pursue it.

Because our state government in Iowa has failed to properly invest in our public universities, the amount we, the students, have to pay has skyrocketed — tuition and fees here at Iowa have gone up 86 percent in the last 15 years.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the candidate who prioritizes investing in the generations to come, starting with making public college tuition-free and canceling student-loan debt for 42 million Americans. These plans are paid for — not by asking the rest of us to pay for millionaires’ kids, as some of her opponents have suggested — but by having America’s richest families chip in through a 2-cent wealth tax on fortunes above $50 million.

By relieving the burden of the costs of higher education, our generation will no longer be forced to chase high-paying jobs that we don’t love just because it’s the only way out of debt. Warren’s plans will unleash the potential of millions of young people like us to study our passions and pursue the careers of our dreams.

That’s why I support Warren for president.

— Cesar Perez, UI senior