Andrew Crighton
Life Editor
There are currently many candidates to choose from when it comes to the 2016 presidential election. Two Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders, and eleven candidates in the Republican field, with Donald Trump in first, Senator Ted Cruz second and Senator Marco Rubio third according to the most recent polls.
With so many possible individuals, it can be hard to know who to vote for.
Presidential candidates’ educational stances could significantly impact students. Candidates considered include the two Democratic candidates, the two current leading Republican candidates, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, as well as Chris Christie.
Cora Bidet, an ISU junior, said she will be voting for Bernie Sanders in the upcoming primaries, and in the general election as well whether he is the Democratic nominee or runs as an Independent.
“I believe in the majority of his social, not even just his social, just his economics with what he’s saying about social inequality,” Bidet said. “He’s stood for racial equality. All of his policies he’s gone through, he’s shown consistency and continuity.”
Sanders’ plans for education reform are based in creating tuition-free college education at public colleges and universities.
Sanders also outlines changing the way that loans will be paid, by reducing interest rates to 2.37 percent, according to berniesanders.com, the official campaign page for Sanders.
“[Post-secondary education reform] is the only way we’re going to stay relevant, especially with how other countries are developing. That’s the only way we’re able to move economically is through developing our human capital,” Bidet said.
Donald Trump is the current front-runner of the Republican field with an averaged lead of 15.2 points on Senator Cruz.
Trump addressed education briefly in his announcement speech on June 16, 2015.
Trump stated, “End— end Common Core. Common Core should— it is a disaster…We have to end [Common Core,] education has to be local.”
There is currently no official plan or agenda outlining education on Trump’s official campaign website, donaldjtrump.com.
Hillary Clinton has an average 8.6-point lead against Sanders in current polls.
Clinton’s changes for college education are outlined in her New College Compact. Within this compact are plans to significantly cut interest rates on student loans.
“If enacted today, [it] would cut interest rates nearly in half,” according to Clinton’s official campaign website, hillaryclinton.com,
Clinton also outlines following President Obama’s plan for providing community college free of cost and aims to increase enrollment by simplifying the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, process.
Ted Cruz, like Trump, is openly opposed to Common Core and believes that education should be left at a state level. Cruz has co-sponsored the Local Control of Education Act, a bill that would allow states to opt out of Common Core without risking their eligibility to receive federal grant money.
The bill has been introduced to the Senate.
Cruz currently does not have an education plan or agenda on his official campaign site, tedcruz.org.
Joshua Iervese, an ISU freshman, stated he will be voting for Chris Christie in the upcoming primary election, and for the eventual Republican candidate in the general election.
“He speaks more truth. He talks about more of the national issues, but he doesn’t give crazy wild ways of fixing the issues,” Iervese said.
Christie’s plan for education reform is centered on the changes he has made in New Jersey while governor.
Those changes include reforming tenure to keep teachers who do not teach well from remaining in their positions, and expanded access to charter schools and promoting college readiness in K-12 education.
In terms of higher education, Christie’s plan aims at making college more affordable by refocusing who receives federal financial aid and exchanging student debt relief for community service through a proposed Student Debt Reduction Organization.
To help keep the costs down, Christie is calling for higher transparency from universities in terms of billing.
Christie believes costs of attendance should be itemized and “unbundled tuition for those at the bottom,” where students ‘pick’ their costs a la carte, based on the classes that they enroll, according to Christie’s official campaign website chrischristie.com, where the full “15 Point Education Reform Agenda” can be viewed.
“Free tuition does not need to happen. Free tuition is a cop out, pretty much saying we’re going to give food stamps to unwilling people,” Iervese said. “If they focused more on giving more affordable college while still making the universities money, that would be a bigger push. As opposed to us having a $4,000 tuition, for those who have a good GPA but didn’t go out and apply for scholarships, but still want to put forth the effort, they get $2,000 tuition.”
Christie is the only one of the three Republican candidates covered in this article to have an official education plan or agenda.
College reform is not just an important issue for students, but for everyone who is involved, including the administrations.
Vice President for Academic Advancement, Kent Tingey, explained when he attended college it was the general feel of society that it was a public good to provide affordable education to young people, because after graduation you would pay more taxes, you refined the culture and provided a better general life in society.
However, that mindset has almost completely turned around, which is why the legislature is providing less and less funding to universities.
“It’s easy to say that education costs will go down if you elect me as president, but I would like to see how you’re going to do that,” said Arthur Vailas, university president. “Because don’t forget, education is a business, you still have to pay teachers.”
According to Tingey, the state provides roughly 40 percent less in state-appropiated funds in the last 27 years.
“You ask a question about reform. In my opinion, higher education let’s say as it is today as it was ten years ago, [is] not sustainable. It has to go through a transformation,” said Tingey.
