Bush Slamming College Doors, Dukakis Says

Michael S. Dukakis said today that George Bush stood silent while the Reagan Administration tried “to slam the door of college opportunity” on young people. The Democratic nominee proposed his own broad loan program aimed at middle-class students.

“Where was George?” Dukakis said, renewing the Democrats’ cry at the national convention in Atlanta in July.

“Where was he while his Administration was denying middle-income families the hope for a future of prosperity and success for their children?”

“George was right there, all the time, not doing and not saying a thing,” he said.

Loan Plan Outlined

Dukakis, in an afternoon appearance at Kean College, outlined his proposal for a college loan program aimed at making a higher education more affordable for the children of middle-income families.

The program would provide federal guarantees to back bank loans to college students in return for the students’ agreement to repay the loan with payment withheld automatically from their future earnings.

As described by his advisers, students would agree to repayment plans based on a percentage of their earnings--with payments extending for the rest of their working lives. The percentage of income withheld would depend on how much money was borrowed, said Larry Summers, a Harvard economist and adviser to Dukakis.

No Cost to Government

Aides said the program would not add any cost to the federal government.

The Massachusetts governor said scholarship assistance had quadrupled in his state under his leadership, but that the Reagan Administration has cut college loans, grants and work-study programs. Meanwhile, he said, college tuitions have increased 60% under the Reagan Administration.

Summers, in a briefing for reporters, said Dukakis’ program would commit borrowers to repayments over 40 years of income. But he contended that the amounts would be small and would not leave borrowers with “crushing debt” due for repayment in the first few years out of college when incomes are low.