As the 2012 presidential election heats up, the candidates are trying to figure out the American public—figure out how many different audiences they can reach and convert. Young people, while historically not big voters, are definitely one of those groups.
Whether we are in school, thinking about school, or being cajoled into going to school, school is a big topic in the lives of many Millennials. Nearly 60 percent of college students borrow money annually to help cover costs. There is
nearly $1 trillion in outstanding student debt. That’s $1,000,000,000,000,000. This
enormous debt is larger than America’s huge consumer debt and cannot be wiped clean in bankruptcy court.
What are the candidates saying on this? Mitt Romney
has been assuring students that he is not going to increase Pell grants or provide student loan forgiveness, saying: “I’m not going to promise all sorts of free stuff that I know you’re going to end up paying for. What I want to do is give you a great job so you’ll be able to pay it back yourself.” In a recent speech in Virgina, vice presidential candidate
Paul Ryan explained, “Our rights come from nature and God, not the government. We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes,” even though he himself has consistently benefited from government programs throughout his life.
President Obama is trying to turn the table, describing the Romney-Ryan view of access to education and student debt through a one percent-er lens. “I want to make sure everybody understands not everybody has parents who have the money to lend,” he said recently in
a speech at Capital University.
Whichever way you lean or even if you’re standing upright, Millennials will have to decide which educational philosophy they want to vote for in November. In the Berkley Center’s April 2012 report,
“A Generation in Transition: Religion, Values, and Politics Among College-Age Millennials”, only 46 percent of Millennials said that they were definitely planning on voting. Millennials with a bachelor’s degree and white Millennials were the groups most certain that they will be voting in November.
No matter whom we vote for, whether or not we reach the ballot on November 6, the educational policies of the winning team will affect all of us, directly or indirectly. Let’s make sure that we are weighing into this debate that so affects us.
