South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced a college and higher-education affordability plan on Monday that would make public college tuition-free for lower- and middle-income households while stopping short of more ambitious proposals backed by progressive rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The heart of Buttigiegs American Opportunity Agenda is the elimination of tuition at public colleges for all American households earning up to $100,000 a year, as well as those families who are already eligible for income-based Pell grants.

In total, Buttigieg estimates that the plan would abolish tuition for 7 million Americans. An unspecified number of additional families with annual incomes up to $150,000 would receive expanded subsidies to pay for schooling.

Whats more, Buttigieg would inject $120 billion more funding into the federal Pell grant program, which would go toward funding the living expenses of college students eligible for free tuition.

When you come from a family of educators like I do, you know the power of learning to open new horizons and opportunities, writes Buttigieg, whose parents were both Notre Dame professors, by way of introducing his plan. As our world and our economy change, access to ongoing higher education is also increasingly necessary to thrive. For too many Americans, however, that opportunity is out of reach.