MIAMI – Republican Sen. Marco Rubio called for an overhaul to the way colleges and universities do business, and the way students go about paying for their education.
"We simply cannot continue to price people out of higher education," Rubio said.
In front of students at Miami-Dade College, Rubio laid out a series of proposals he said would make it easier for students to get a degree without going broke.
Among the proposals: Schools telling students how much they'll make with their degree in the current job market versus what the degree will cost them.
He's also called on schools to accept free online classes as credits, and that student loan payment plans be tied to graduate's income.
"The more you make in a given month, the more you would pay back," Rubio said. "The less you make, the less your payment would be."
A handful of protesters criticized Rubio for not supporting a minimum wage increase.
"What employers have done historically, unfortunately, is they've shed the number of employees to make up for the difference and I worry about that," Rubio said.
Rubio, recognizing the recent talk of legalizing marijuana in Florida and the audience before him, refused to answer if he's ever smoked marijuana himself.
"You know why I never answer that question? If I tell you that I haven't, you won't believe me, and if I tell you that I did, kids will look at me and say, 'I can smoke 'MJ' because he (Rubio) made it."