Hillary Clinton defended her higher education reform proposal in an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board on Tuesday, and slammed her Democratic opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the process.

Clinton explained that her plan would involve the federal government working with states on an individual basis, going through their budgets to find ways to direct more funds towards higher education, as well as putting pressure on the universities themselves to cut costs.

One of the members of the Register's editorial board pointed out how complicated Clinton's plan would be, and asked why not go with a simpler solution, such as the plan Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed to simply make tuition free at public schools.

"One of the things that I believe is that everybody needs to make an investment in their education," Clinton responded. "I am not going to give free college to wealthy kids. I'm not going to give free college to kids who don't work some hours to try to put their own effort into getting their education."

She said her plan is a compact that "makes everybody put some skin in the game."

Clinton added that at $350 billion over 10 years her plan is "affordable," and rather than just putting money into the existing system, it will aim to lower costs by forcing institutions to take a hard look at what they're charging.