Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have made higher education a large part of their campaign, but Republican candidates have lagged behind in presenting an alternative policy approach.
The Republican lag on higher education, along with their tendency to ignore issues important to millennials during the GOP debates, could threaten their youth appeal and sink them during the general election.
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Marco Rubio is the only candidate who realizes that. His campaign site offers his vision “for overhauling and modernizing higher education,” where he calls for a “disruption” of America’s education system. On the campaign trail, he references his struggle to repay his student loans. His plan wants to simplify and codify federal aid and how students apply, make higher education information easier to access, use income-based repayment as the standard for federal student loans, reform accreditation, and expand vocational education as an alternative to traditional higher education, among other proposals.
The merits of those ideas can be debated, but Rubio has established an alternative to Clinton’s “New College Compact” and Sanders’ pledge to make college “tuition free and debt free.”
The rest of the Republican field has yet to offer a plan for higher education.
Chris Christie, for his part, has proposed to “refocus federal student assistance for those at the bottom” and expand income-share agreements as an alternative to student loans, similar to Rubio. He also wants to push transparency and accountability, and expand alternative education models.
Ted Cruz doesn’t have a formal platform on his website. On the campaign trial, he has argued for the abolition of the Department of Education, and advocated for federal education funds to go to the states as block grants. “Student aid is critically important,” Cruz said.
He has also mentioned his personal experience repaying student loans, and ties economic growth to helping students pay off their debt.
Ben Carson lacks a publicly available higher education platform as well. In an October interview on ABC’s This Week, he spoke approvingly of free medical school in Europe that, he implied, could fix the deficit of primary care doctors. He has also floated the idea of using the Department of Education to investigate universities for political bias.
“We have to transform the education system so that all children are prepared to succeed in college and at work,” Jeb Bush said.
How he plans to do that, however, remains a mystery. During an October GOP debate, he said that the states should take over student aid in lieu of the federal government. The Bush campaign has promised a plan for college debt since September, but it has yet to materialize. So far, he’s been content with criticizing the pace of college curricula without suggesting solutions.
Donald Trump thinks the Department of Education could be cut “way, way, way down.” He has also agreed with Senator Elizabeth Warren on federal student loans, saying “that’s probably one of the only things the government shouldn’t make money off.” He also supports allowing international students to remain in the United States after graduation.
Rand Paul has cautioned young people to treat free college “like heroin,” and wants online education to spread and unbundle a college degree.
The ramshackle approach from the Republican candidates, along with a notable silence on higher education during their many debates, has shown higher education to be a low priority.
A Harvard Institute of Politics poll found that millennials cared about education policy more than any other issue except for job creation and health care policy. More than foreign policy, climate change, income inequality, and immigration policy. That the GOP hasn’t reached out to the youth vote on higher education, the economy, and health care indicates an oversight or an indifference toward a demographic that could swing the election.
Yet, all is not lost for the Republicans. Hillary Clinton, despite her use of celebrity endorsements and a strong outreach, hasn’t charmed millennials. Democratic millennials prefer Bernie Sanders as their nominee. When pollsters ask, Clinton only has a narrow lead over Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, ties with Ben Carson, and trails behind Marco Rubio. Her only strong lead is against Donald Trump.
Millennials haven’t dismissed the Republican Party. They’ve been straightforward when asked about their important issues. Whether the GOP candidates pay attention could determine current and future support.
