Both
Republicans and Democrats have given higher education a plank in their
election-year platforms, according to The
Hechinger Report. While K-12 education has often been addressed by the
parties, higher ed usually doesn’t get nearly as much attention.
Affordability
is the main issue for the Democratic Party, although the report said the
position doesn’t offer any proposals for helping low-income students to stay in
school to get a degree.
“The
platform includes promises to support institutions that serve minority
students, to promote cheaper loan repayment plans and more state funding for
higher education, and to ‘go after’ for-profit colleges that are deceptive.
Most striking is the pledge to make community college free,” wrote Meredith
Kolodner.
The Republicans
are looking to limit the amount of Pell grants and eliminate subsidies for
Stafford loans as part of a larger effort to reduce the federal budget, neither
of which sit well with students. However, the platform supports revising
student-loan rules to help prevent students from ending up with more debt than
they can afford.
“Republicans
argue spending alone doesn’t improve access to higher education. They have also
targeted regulation, saying it vastly increases universities’
expenses—something higher-education lobbyists have also argued, though there’s
no reliable research about how much regulartion costs schools—and complicates
college-going for students,” wrote Mikhail Zinshteyn.