When university presidents were asked about President Obama’s performance on higher education, the response was tepid.
University presidents are naively optimistic about race relations on their campuses, but they also give Obama a C grade, according to a survey from Inside Higher Ed and Gallup.
Two-year public colleges favored Obama the most, followed by public colleges in general and private non-profit colleges. That Obama has promised community colleges more funding, but not reform, explains his appeal.
“He receives his best grades for focusing attention on low-income students, with 67 percent of college presidents giving him an A or B grade and a G.P.A. of 2.7, or a B-. The president also gets relatively higher grades on student aid (2.4) and using the bully pulpit to promote higher education (2.2),” Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman wrote.
His worst areas were regulation, college affordability, and research support. Obama has had little success in slowing college price increases. For the 2009-2010 academic year, students could expect to pay $16,884 for tuition, fees, and room and board at a public four-year college, according to the College Board. By the 2015-2016 academic year, that increased by 16 percent to $19,548.
While systemic issues with higher education and the demand for it are out of Obama’s hands, federal subsidies have been a crucial element in driving up college prices. The president has done a good job in advocating for low-income students, but his proposed solutions have only created more barriers for them.
The survey, however, showed presidents to be warming to Obama. Compared with last year, when college presidents tore into Obama for his proposed college ratings system, there’s less animosity from college presidents toward the Obama administration’s higher education initiatives. They still hate the College Scorecard, though: Only 10 percent thought it accurately depicted their college.
