NEW YORK - October 23, 2011 - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told NBC’s David Gregory Sunday that he would “eventually” end all federal aid to students.

“As you well know, you have a lot of support among young people,” Gregory noted. “They’re borrowing to pay for college at record levels. Would you abolish all federal student aid?”

“Eventually,” Paul admitted. “But my program doesn’t do it. There’s a transition in this.”

“But that’s your ultimate aim?” Gregory wondered.

“Yes,” Paul replied. “Because there’s no (constitutional) authority to do this; just think of all this - a willingness to help every student get a college education. So (what if) we’re a trillion dollars in debt, we don’t have any jobs for them, (and) the quality of education has gone down? It’s a failed program.”

Last week in Las Vegas, Paul put forth his plan to slash $1 trillion from the federal budget by ending the departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, and Interior. The Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, and Department of Defense would also see deep cuts.