Republicans: The Kryptonite of Education

It may just be because I’m a member of the College Democrats, but I find it ridiculous the College Republicans have such a large following.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious the Republican Party doesn’t care about college students.

As of 2011, Indiana was the only Midwestern state in the bottom 10 for college education.

Only 22.7 percent of Hoosiers 25 years or older have a bachelor’s degree. Compare this to Massachusetts, which has a bachelor’s degree rate of 38.7 percent.

So why are the bottom 10 states in this list struggling to have students attend and graduate from college? Eight of the 10 are controlled by Republicans, with nine of the 10 having a two-thirds Republican majority.

On the flip side, the top 10 states for college graduation rates are the opposite. Seven out of the 10 states are controlled by Democrats by at least a two-thirds majority, with all of them being at least one-third Democrat.

Not a single state renowned for its overwhelmingly positive college graduation rate is completely controlled by Republicans.

One could assume most college students would vote for Democrats, especially after the Republican party blocking a vote in the Senate that would’ve kept student loan rates down.

While on the Senate floor, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Republicans were forced to choose between helping the students of the country and helping the rich.
Harkin said if the bill were allowed to come up for debate, “Some of my friends on the other side of the aisle maybe will think that students are more important than a few wealthy people in this country not paying their fair share of taxes. That’s what this vote is ... Republicans don’t even want to proceed to go there.”

What the Republican Party has become is a party bent on turning students away from a college education — at any cost.

Former Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum, R-Pa., once said in a speech President Obama wanted to expand student loans/financial aid because colleges are “indoctrination mills” designed to destroy religious faith.

Any college student who would vote for Mitt Romney, R-Mass., who said, in response to a question about student loans “...don’t expect the government to forgive the debt you take on,” is completely naïve.

This week, President Obama gave a speech where he said “...too many students are facing a choice that they should never have to make. “Either they don’t go to college and they pay the price for not getting a degree — and that’s a price that lasts a lifetime — or you do what it takes to go to college, but then you run the risk of not being able to pay it off. Now, that’s a choice we shouldn’t accept.”

Now, that’s the party you should vote for.

­— ajguenth@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Andrew Guenther on Twitter @GuentherAndrew.