The Other 85 Percent

Obama, Clinton & McCain: What are they saying about higher education?

April 8, 2008 | Filed under: Barack Obama, Capella, Capella University, John McCain, Mike Offerman, The Other 85 Percent, Transparency by Design, college, college degree, distance learning, higher education, hillary clinton, online learning, presidential campaign

The premise of The Other 85 Percent is that public opinion and public policy making regarding higher education still focus on what is now a distinct minority of higher education students. That minority is the student who goes directly from high school to study full-time on a traditional campus. Too little attention is given to adult students, students who work while attending college, and other student who don’t fit the traditional mold.

I thought it would be interesting in a presidential election year, when much talk is about change, to see if the three major presidential candidates are thinking or talking about the other 85 percent of higher education students. This is not meant to be a declaration of support for any one of the candidates, but simply to see what is being put forward by each. Review of the Web sites of Senators John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton reveals disappointingly little to indicate that change is on the horizon for adult and part-time students.

To be fair, this review is limited. It only involves what each candidate has stated in two places: The first is her or his Web site, and the second is from an article in USA Today where each candidate’s education policies were published. Again, the intent is not to endorse any candidate, and I am not a fan of single issue tests for candidates. Instead, it is an attempt to see if adult and part-time learners are getting much or any attention in the presidential race.

Senator John McCain has the least amount of information dealing with education issues. Really, there are only a couple of pages and these are devoted to PK-12 education. He talks about placing “parents and children” at the center of the education process. In USA Today, he is said to generally back greater funding of Pell grants and government low-interest loans. That is it.

Senator Obama has considerably more information. He is focused on “soaring college costs.” But he seems to have a traditional view of college when he talks about the fact that the “average graduate leaves college with over $19,000 in debt.” That seems to be a view of the student who goes to college and then later goes into the work world. His plan to address these costs is to create the American Opportunity Tax Credit that would cover the first $4,000 per year of college costs. Obama would also support an increase in the federal Pell Grant awards. He calls for simplification of the financial aid process, whereby a simple check-off on the income tax form would authorize the use of the tax information and eliminate the need for separate application. He asserts that he has been an advocate for education, but uses examples dealing with early childhood education. He also talks about the need to “use all available technologies and methods to open up the federal government, creating a new level of transparency.” I must say I like the sound of that, sounds a lot like Transparency by Design. And he wants to encourage the “deployment of the most modern communications infrastructure.” Finally, he is a strong advocate to have all federal loans be direct loans between school and student.

Senator Clinton takes the lead in the amount of information on educational policies, about double the amount of Obama’s material. Like Obama, she wants to see a tax credit (her credit would be $3,500 compared to Obama’s $4,000), wants to increase the Pell Grant, calls for getting rid of red tape in federal student financial aid, and would use the tax form check-off that Obama also referenced. She refers to college as being out of reach for “many students from middle class and low-income families.” She has several proposals that go beyond the other two candidates in specificity and focus on the other 85 percent of students. She calls for $500 million to be invested in community colleges, especially to encourage degree completion by community college students. I will note that many working adult and part-time students attend community colleges. Her interest in degree completion includes creation of a Graduation Fund to increase graduation rates, especially among low-income and minority students. Among a list of other proposals, she, unlike either of the other two candidates, addresses adult and part-time students. She states that “the number of students who are 25 and older, who are attending school while raising their families and who are working full-time has grown dramatically over the last decade.” She just defined the other 85 percent. And she calls for a “Non-Traditional Student Success Act” that supports “access to college for working adults, those who go back to school later in life, and first-generation college students.” In this program, she calls for a pilot to allow students attending college less than half-time to receive federal student aid. Finally, she is more specific in support she would provide for technology, calling for tax incentives to encourage broadband deployment in underserved areas.

So, while Senator Clinton does address the changing face of American higher education, the other two candidates do not. That is disappointing, but not necessarily unexpected. We need to continue to advocate for understanding of the needs of working adult higher education students and other students whom I identify as the other 85 percent.

Let me know your thoughts. Do you agree with my analysis? What other information can you share?

Mike

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.