Millennials Katie Costella (left) and Jesse Barkin (right) greet cars in frigid temperatures outside of the Reinig Center hours before Hillary Clinton's event.
TOLEDO, IA - "Give us a honk! Honk for Hillary!" Jesse Barkin yelled, as Clinton supporters arrived at the convention center on Monday afternoon. This millennial came all the way from Maine to volunteer for Clinton's campaign.
"I think she represents millennials and pragmatic and progressive thinking," Barkin said. "I think she's the candidate to win, so I'm out here doing everything I can in the cold."
Right next to Barkin stood Katie Costella in 10 degrees clutching a 'Hillary for Iowa' sign in her hands. She traveled nearly 1,000 miles from Warrenton, Va. to support Clinton.
"It's just her time to get in the White House. We need someone who's going to build on what Obama has done for the past eight years," Costella said. "We need to make sure we don't get a Republican in there that's going to set us back."
Clinton has warned Iowans that if a Republican wins the election then the Affordable Care Act will be lost completely. Costella said Clinton is the candidate who will use Obama's progress as a stepping-stone to achieve universal healthcare.
Katie Costella holds a 'Hillary for Iowa" sign as she welcomes people to the event center in Iowa.
"We need someone who's not just going to say things, but someone that's going to get stuff done," Costella said.
One issue that Clinton wants to improve upon is the affordability of healthcare for Americans of every age.
According to the Center for American Progress, nearly 20 percent* of millenials were uninsured as of 2014.
"We need to require insurance companies to give people three free visits before their deductible kicks in," Clinton said.
Healthcare isn't getting any cheaper and neither is college tuition, which is another hot button issue for millennials.
According to Collegeboard, tuition at public four-year institutions in the U.S. is increasing by 3.4 percent** every year.
Clinton has created a detailed 350-billion-dollar plan that will help students and their families afford a college education to avoid drowning in debt. The plan New College Compact claims students will not be held back by overpriced tuition and fees.
"I really think that her college affordability plans are really well thought out and achievable," Connor Doyle said.
This 21-year-old Oklahoman and volunteer for the Clinton campaign chose to go to The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia instead of a school in the United States. The education Doyle was seeking was more affordable overseas; this is what prompted him to get his college degree in another country.
"I think she's really fighting for families like mine. So that debt is not stacked against us, so that we can really try to get ahead," Doyle said.
According to a Pew Research study, 75 percent*** of adults said college is too expensive for most Americans and 57 percent*** said U.S. colleges aren't worth the money students and families spend.
During the event, Clinton outlined her education plan saying, if she were president she would make community colleges free and public universities debt free.
Clinton explains to Tama County residents her plan for affordable college education.
"I want you to be able to have an endpoint to your debt, so that you're not paying for it when you're in a nursing home," Clinton said.
Millennials have been flocking to Clinton's campaign since she began discussing her ideas of how to make education more affordable. With so many appealing ideas, it is no wonder she is grabbing the attention of the younger generation.
*2012 Pew Research: The Future of Higher Education
**Center for American Progress: 3.6 Million Millennials Gained Health Insurance in 2014
***Collegeboard: Average Rates of Growth of Published Charges by Decade