Yesterday John McCain announced his Higher Education Policy in a press release. Took him long enough.
Did he just wake up yesterday and realize that there is a huge number of young voters in this country who might be interested in his plans for them?
Recently I have been doing research on issues of interest to the under-30 voter in the upcoming presidential election. This included looking at Barack Obama and John McCain’s campaign proposals as well as their voting records in the Senate.
Higher Education (and how to pay for it) is one of those issues.
An April 2008 survey of American college students showed that half of them worry about having "too much student loan debt". And that’s a 30% increase since 2007. The economy and stingy financial aid policies are taking their toll on everyone.
Until yesterday, there was little to find on McCain’s plans for higher education. (I found lots about Obama’s plans. He announced his nine months ago. See here and here and here and here.)
Well, my first read of McCain’s Higher Education Policy confirmed my fear that he really wasn’t going to address how to make college more affordable. The plan is pure rhetoric – with absolutely no meat and potatoes. Here’s one section:
Simplify Federal Financial Aid
Too many programs and a complicated application process deter many eligible students from seeking student aid. The number of programs also makes it more difficult for financial aid officers to help students navigate the process. Consolidating programs will help simplify the administration of these programs, and help more students have a better understanding of their eligibility for aid.
McCain’s focus is more on streamlining the financial aid process than on offering more financial aid to college students.
I was hoping that McCain would mention Pell Grants – the biggest source of need-based grants for college students. More than five million undergraduates currently have a Pell Grant. Unlike loans, you don’t have to pay back grants. So Pell Grants don’t add to the huge debt that most of students face on graduation. But over years the value of the Pell Grants has declined significantly.
Now look at the section in Obama’s College Affordability Plan that relates to Pell Grants.
Expand Pell Grants for Low-Income Students
Two decades ago, the maximum Pell Grant covered 55 percent of costs at a public four-year college, compared with only 32 percent today. The first bill Barack Obama introduced in the U.S. Senate would have helped make college more affordable for many Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from the limit of $4,050 to a new maximum of $5,100. Obama has worked in a bipartisan way on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee to achieve an increase in the Pell Grant to $5,400 over the next few years. As president, Obama will continue to work to ensure that the maximum Pell Grant award is increased for low-income students. Specifically, he will ensure that the award keeps pace with the rising cost of college inflation.
Obama is certainly showing a firm commitment to making college affordable.
Now why wasn’t I surprised that McCain - unlike Obama - is not interested in making college more affordable? In the last eight years McCain has had the chance to vote 26 times in the Senate on legislation that relates to financial aid. (Half of those times specifically included language relating to Pell Grants.)
Not once since Bush has been president, did McCain vote in favor of financial aid.
Just for the fun of it, I googled ‘Pell Grants’ on Obama and McCain's campaign websites. Obama – 446 hits. McCain – just one! And that one hit was actually a pro-Obama comment.
Then I googled ’Pell Grants’ on Obama and McCain's Senate websites. Obama – 14 hits. The one at the top of the list is about the first bill Obama ever sponsored in the Senate – which was about boosting the amount of the maximum Pell Grant.
McCain – Well here’s what Google came back with:
Your search - "pell grants" site:mccain.senate.gov - did not match any documents.
That’s right – nothing!