With tuition and fees at state universities on a rapid ascent in recent years, the affordability of a college education may become a key issue in this year’s presidential election, particularly among college-age voters.
Democratic candidate John Kerry has placed the blame for skyrocketing education costs squarely on the shoulders of President George W. Bush. Due to state deficits and cuts in education funding, the Kerry camp estimates 220,000 students lacked the financial means to enroll in four-year public universities this year.
To make higher education more accessible, Kerry has proposed several initiatives, most notably his “State Tax Relief and Education Fund.” The fund will provide $25 billion to states struggling with budget deficits to avoid education cuts and tuition increases.
Don Eggert, co-chair of Students for Kerry, said the importance of funding higher education is very apparent.
“If you look at states, they’ve been forced to drastically increase tuition,” Eggert said. “The Bush administration’s response has been to cut federal financial aid, which is a shame, considering how competitive the global marketplace is.”
Kerry’s “Service for College” plan would compensate students with the equivalent of tuition at public universities in return for two years of military service. The Massachusetts senator has set a goal of enlisting 500,000 people per year into the plan in the next decade.
“Very innovative, very aggressive … I think it’s a great program,” Eggert said of the plan. “I’m graduating, but if I was in the shoes of someone starting college, two years of service for college tuition is a great idea.”
However, Bush says Kerry’s attack on his education record is unjustified. Bush points to his 2005 budget, in which financial aid for higher education will increase six percent and funding for the Pell Grant program will go up $856 million. The president also credits his tax relief bill in 2001 for making it easier for families to use education IRAs, while blaming Kerry for voting six times in the Senate against expanded education savings accounts.
Bush recently trumpeted the importance of community colleges, calling them “a major asset of our country,” during a speech in Minneapolis Monday. Bush proposed a $250 million package to Congress in order to help community colleges form partnerships with local businesses.
Although college students traditionally show up at the polls in low numbers, Kerry recognized their importance during a four-stop campus tour in mid-April.
“I ask you not just to vote, but to tell your friends, register your classmates and change a few minds along the way. Ten million college kids can easily take the $100 million in Republican attack ads they’ve got running,” he told a crowd at the University of New Hampshire.
Kerry’s message seems to be getting through, as a recent survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found the Democrat holding a 10-percent lead over Bush among college students, 48-38 percent. His support was characterized as soft, though, and the 10-percent differential is not alarming, according to former College Republicans chair Frank Harris.
“College campuses are generally described as liberal, so 10 percent, that’s not too bad,” Harris said. “I really think Bush can only gain ground once people realize who the real John Kerry is.”
For Mike Pfohl, chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin, the issue is not only college affordability, but also opportunities in the job market available to college graduates.
“Bush pledged to make college more accessible, but he has not kept that promise,” Pfohl said. “And right now there are more college graduates with degrees that can’t find work than high school dropouts who can’t find work. That’s appalling.”
