Sen. Bernie Sanders called a higher education system that prices capable students out of a college degree "absurd," "stupid" and "dumb" at a campaign event here Tuesday afternoon.
Sanders, kicking off a three-day Iowa campaign swing, called on the United States to create the "best educated workforce in the world" to help rebuild the middle class.
"It is kind of a no-brainer," he said, "and yet today in Iowa and in Vermont and all over this country we have hundreds of thousands of bright and qualified young people who cannot afford to go to college because their families lack the money. Now that is absurd. That is unfair to those young people. It is stupid in terms of the future of our economy because we want to be tapping all of the intellectual potential that is out there."
Sanders' platform calls for using a new tax on Wall Street speculation to make public colleges and universities tuition-free.
"To say to some smart, young girl or boy you're not going to be able to develop your intellect because your family lacks the funds and you can't get a higher education, that is really, really dumb," Sanders said.