DEMOCRATS:

Hillary Clinton

Home State: New York

Age: 68

Political history: First lady of Arkansas, U.S.; U.S. senator; secretary of state

Education policy: Proposed “debt free college,” has said students who commit to working 10 hours a week should be able to avoid taking out loans.

The economy: tax cuts for small business, middle class; raise the minimum wage; raise taxes on wealthy.

Social issues: Pro-gay marriage, supports federal legislation to bar discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation; Pro-choice, outspoken critic of defunding Planned Parenthood.

Bernie Sanders

Home State: Vermont

Age: 74

Political history: Mayor of Burlington, vermont, U.S. representative and senator

Education policy: Free public college for all

The economy: Outspoken critic of income inequality; raise taxes on wealthy and corporations; close loopholes and raise taxes to create single payer healthcare system.

Social issues: Longtime supporter of gay rights and abortion rights; supports federal protections

Martin O’Malley

Home State: Maryland

Age: 53

Political history: Mayor of Baltimore; governor of Maryland

Education policy: Proposed debt-free college; wants current borrowers to be able to refinance loans; create specialized pathways based on specific needs.

The economy: Supports raising taxes on wealthy of expand government programs; speaks frequently on income inequality.

Social issues: Supporter of same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

REPUBLICANS

Donald Trump

Home State: New York

Age: 69

Political history: none

Education policy: Has yet to speak extensively on higher education; outspoken critic of common core standards at K-12 level.

The economy: Supports tax cuts across the board; critic of free trade

Social issues: Supports traditional marriage; pro-life, although has supported late-term abortion in the past

Ted Cruz

Home State: Texas

Age: 45

Political history: U.S. senator; solicitor general of Texas

Education policy: Speaks mostly on K-12 standards, but does support abolishing Department of Education and allowing private competition of student loans.

The economy: Supports flat tax system; closing loopholes

Social issues: Staunchly pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, but supports individual states rights to make laws

Marco Rubio

Home State: Florida

Age: 44

Political history: Speaker of Florida House; U.S. senator

Education policy: Supports legislation that would require schools to be transparent on how much students can expect to earn; reduce complexity of financial aid applications; income based repayments

The economy: Cut taxes, but supports progressive tax system that simplifies to three brackets; cap amount of regulations

Social issues: Pro-life, even in cases of rape and incest; supports traditional marriage

Ben Carson

Home State: Michigan

Age: 64

Political history: none

Education policy: Supports forcing universities to pay back interest on student loans as a way to keep down costs; says students should take personal responsibility when decided to take out large loans; get federal government out of student loans.

The economy: Supports flat tax system at 14.9 percent.

Social issues: Pro-life, says being neurosurgeon has shaped view of abortion; supports traditional marriage

Jeb Bush

Home State: Florida

Age: 62

Political history: governor of Florida

Education policy: Supports reducing federal role in education; broadly says he supports policies that will make college more affordable

The economy: Simplify tax code into three brackets; rollback “burdensome” regulations.

Social issues: Pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, but said we should respect SCOTUS decision on marriage.

Chris Christie

Home State: New Jersey

Age: 53

Political history: governor of New Jersey; U.S. attorney

Education policy: Supports students paying percentage of future income in exchange for private financing; forcing universities to provide cost itemization so students know exactly what they’re paying for.

The economy: Supports simplifying tax code and lowering corporate tax rate; scale back amount of regulations.

Social issues: Pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.

John Kasich

Home State: Ohio

Age: 63

Political history: U.S. representative, governor of Ohio

Education policy: Wants to allow students to take more classes in high school for college credit; supported performance based funding for schools in Ohio.

The economy: Supports tax cuts across the board; ardent supporter of balanced budget amendment to U.S. constitution.

Social issues: Pro-life, against taxpayer funding of abortion, but created new women’s health programs in Ohio.

Rand Paul

Home State: Kentucky

Age: 53

Political history: U.S. senator

Education policy: Says government involvement in education and student loans has contributed to rising costs; supports private loan system to create competition.

The economy: Supports flat tax system.

Social issues: Pro-life and for traditional marriage, but supports states rights to make own laws.

Mike Huckabee

Home State: Arkansas

Age: 60

Political history: governor of Arkansas

Education policy: Speaks mostly on K-12 education and opposition to Common Core, but says higher education policy must be reformed to tackle costs.

The economy: Supports fair tax, or consumption/national sales tax.

Social issues: Staunchly pro-life and traditional marriage; consistently speaks of religion.

Carly Fiorina

Home State: California

Age: 61

Political history: none

Education policy: Says government involvement in education has contributed to rising costs of college; supports private loan companies creating competition and bringing down rates.

The economy: Supports simplifying tax code down to three pages; zero based budgeting at the federal level.

Social issues: Pro-life and for traditional marriage, but supports civil unions.

Rick Santorum

Home State: Pennsylvania

Age: 53

Political history: U.S. senator

Education policy: Supports continuing loans, grants and tax incentives for college education; says more government subsidies won’t help – someone has to pay for it

The economy: Supports flat tax with 20 percent on income, 20 percent on business income; supports balanced budget amendment.

Social issues: Staunchly pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.