For N.C. voters, higher ed is a hot issue
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
By Staff
This is the second in a four-part series looking at the presidential candidates' positions on issues that affect North Carolina.
In a region where higher education is a meal ticket for thousands of faculty and students, it doesn't take long before political debates take an academic bent. Presidential candidates find voters who parse proposals involving student loans, Pell Grants and the graduation rates at community colleges.
"Higher education won't be the only issue that determines my vote, but there is no doubt it is the one that most directly affects me," said Nick Tosco, a senior at N.C. State and a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama.
Detailed proposals belong almost exclusively to Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic party's presidential nomination. College affordability is at the top of the list for both, although neither suggests affordable means cheap.
The issue is pressing because average student debt has more than doubled nationally since the mid-1990s. And it is a particularly sensitive topic in North Carolina, where the state constitution guarantees citizens a free university education "as far as practicable."
It isn't close to free anymore. North Carolina seniors who graduated in 2006 owed an average of about $18,000 in student loans, according to the Project On Student Debt, a nonprofit group that provides research and analysis on college costs. (more…)
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