Candidates and the cost of higher education

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney penned pieces concerning higher education reform in Time Magazine last week. Unfortunately, neither candidate addressed the reform part.

The bulk of the president’s piece centered on a plan to invest more money in public schools and hire more teachers.

Our public education system is broken, but throwing more federal dollars at it is not reform. Federal spending per student has doubled since the 1970s, but test scores have remained flat.

When the president talks about college, the results are unimpressive. Obama praises his decision to “cut big banks out of the student loan program,” as though restricting private enterprise is something to be proud of.

He boasts he’s stopped student loan interest rates from doubling, handed out scholarships to 4 million students and invested in community colleges, but federal aid is a bandage on the financial wound that is skyrocketing tuition.

In fact, the two seem to feed each other. A business is likely to raise its prices if it knows the government is covering its customers. Politicians are likely to please their constituents with more aid when they are hit by higher prices.

But enough about the president. Let’s have a look at Romney.

Romney talks about how we must not only “adapt, compete and innovate” but also “address costs.” He pretty much leaves it at that. Hope is not a strategy. Neither are flashy words.

I would agree with Romney’s statement that “endless government support only fuels skyrocketing tuition.”

But what neither candidate really tells us is that the president and Congress lack direct control of many other tuition drivers: administrative bloat, needless construction and beautification projects, ratings competition and decreasing state funding.

In 2011, only 18 percent of IU’s funding was provided by the state. It’s on track to fall
below 10 percent by 2020.

IU’s attempts to deal with rising tuition have been dismal. In a guest column last week, IU Student Association   Congressman Sydney Fletcher noted that IU President Michael McRobbie’s proposals to rein in tuition have been inadequate or unproven, and avenues for student input remain insufficient.

That said, we can find some good advice in Romney’s piece. He noted that only half of college graduates are able to find jobs that match their degrees.

If you’re a current student, think hard about what you’re studying and how it’s going to pay off for you.

College is an increasingly expensive investment, and, right now, you aren’t getting much help from anyone in charge.

— danoconn@indiana.edu