CINCINNATI — University of Cincinnati senior Alyssa Conley will finish her last year of college in the spring. For the past four years, she has managed to pay a majority of her tuition out of pocket.

“I’m pretty much going to walk out with pretty much a year’s worth of debt compared to the four that most people accumulate,” said Conley.

Working multiple jobs, and help from her mother, has made it all possible.

“She has definitely helped me out a lot,” Conley said. “She has helped me with books every semester and she has helped me out with the last little bit I’ve needed, but I’ve actually been working since I was 15 and I’ve saved up a lot of money. I got a small scholarship from school as well.”

President-elect Joe Biden is looking to help students like Conley. He has proposed to forgive $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student debt for every year of national or community service for as many as five years.

“I think that the forgiveness plan is great for people who have collected the debt, but I also think something needs to be taken care of moving forward,” she said.

While the loan forgiveness would help with student debt, the downside is reform is expensive and taxes would increase to pay for it. That is why Conley said the real solution is changing the way higher education is paid for.

“Moving forward I think the infrastructure of how we’re doing tuition and how we’re charging students, needs to change,” she said. “I think it’s great that the government is helping us or at least that the government wants to help us, but the schools need to held accountable and the universities need to be held accountable and they need to change what they’re doing.”

Biden's plan would likely need the approval of Congress, but some leaders in the Democratic Party have suggested Biden use an executive order to make it happen.