“Now, I’m a little different from those who say free college for everybody,” clarified Hillary Clinton in 2016, taking aim at her opponent in the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders. “I am not in favor of making college free for Donald Trump’s kids.”

With this objection, Clinton appeared to beat Sanders, the nation’s political leader on matters of economic inequality, at his own game. She was standing up to the rich, or so it seemed. Her contention was that universal tuition-free public college would be a giveaway to the wealthy, who don’t need any help attaining a degree.

Instead Clinton advocated increasing public financial aid and adjusting eligibility requirements, making college easier to attend for a subset of low-income students but continuing to extract tuition from those who don’t meet specific criteria. This policy approach, known as means testing, is cherished by moderates in the Democratic Party. (Republicans, for their part, are less inclined to nuance and are known to aggressively assail social programs wherever possible.)