The Other 85 Percent

The Republican’s Position on Higher Education

September 4, 2008 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Mike Offerman, college, college degree, distance learning, elearning, online education, online learning, online university

Last week I posted on the Democratic party platform that referenced “non-traditional learners.”  Yesterday, the Republican party approved its platform.  And I am pleased to see that they, too, reference the other 85 percent of America’s higher education students.  To quote:  “Lifelong learning will continue to transform the demographics of higher education, bringing older students and real-world experience to campus.”  While I would prefer not to have the reference to “campus” since increasing numbers of the other 85 percent study online, it is good to know that both parties recognize that change continues in higher education and adult, part-time, and financially independent students are a major part of higher education in our country. 

The Republican platform references the other 85 percent again in a section on community colleges, recognizing the service of these colleges to veterans and workers.  As I did with the Democratic platform, I have copied the section on higher education into this post.

Your thoughts?

The Republican Party Platform on Higher Education

Our country’s system of higher education —public and private, secular and religious, large and small institutions — is unique for its excellence, its diversity, and its accessibility. Learning is a safeguard of liberty. Post-secondary education not only
increases the earnings of individuals but advances economic development. Our colleges and universities drive much of the research that keeps America competitive. We must ensure that our higher education system meet the needs of the 21st century student
and economy and remain innovative and accessible.

Meeting College Costs

Students and their parents face formidable challenges in planning for college as costs continue to outpace inflation. Higher education seems immune from market controls and the law of supply and demand. We commend those institutions which are directing a greater proportion of their endowment revenues toward tuition relief.

The Republican vision for expanding access to higher education has led to two major advances, Education Savings Accounts and Section 529 accounts, by which millions of families now save for college. While federal student loans and grants have
opened doors to learning for untold numbers of low and middle-income students, the overall financial aid system, with its daunting forms and confused rationales, is nothing less than Byzantine. It must be simplified. We call for a presidential commission to
undertake that task and to review the role of government regulations and policies in the tuition spiral. We affirm our support for the public-private partnership that now offers students and their families a vibrant marketplace in selecting their student loan provider.

Innovation Will Lead to Lifelong Learning

The challenge to American higher education is to make sure students can access education in whatever forms they want. As mobility increases in all aspects of American life, student mobility, from school to school and from campus to campus, will
require new approaches to admissions, evaluations, and credentialing. Distance learning propelled by an expanding telecommunications sector and especially broadband, is certain to grow in importance —whether through public or private institutions — and
federal law should not discriminate against the latter. Lifelong learning will continue to transform the demographics of higher education, bringing older students and real-world experience to campus.

Community Colleges Continue to Play a Crucial Role

Community colleges are central to the future of higher education, especially as they build bridges between the world of work and the classroom. Many of our returning veterans find community colleges to be welcoming environments where they can develop
specific skills for use in the civilian workforce. As the first responders to economic development and retraining of workers, these schools fulfill our national
commitment of an affordable and readily accessible education for all.

Special Challenges in Higher Education

Free speech on college campuses is to be celebrated, but there should be no place in academia for anti-Semitism or racism of any kind. We oppose the hiring, firing, tenure, and promotion practices at universities that discriminate on the basis of political or
ideological belief. When federal taxes are used to support such practices, it is inexcusable. We affirm the right of students and faculty to express their views in the face of the leftist dogmatism that dominates many institutions. To preserve the integrity
and independence of the nation’s colleges, we will continue to ensure alternatives to ideological accrediting systems.

Because some of the nation’s leading universities create or tolerate a hostile atmosphere toward the ROTC, we will rigorously enforce the provision of law, unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court, which denies those institutions federal research grants unless their military students have the full rights and privileges of other students. That must include the right to engage in ROTC activities on their own campus, rather than being segregated elsewhere.

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