Higher Ed and the Governors’ Races

Battles over funding and college costs are being fought in races for governor across the country. Reported by Inside Higher Ed.

These state races are likelier to have a more immediate effect than much of what Congress or the Obama administration may do. States, after all, are spending about $72 billion a year on higher education.

Often enough – perhaps because it’s easiest to talk about in sound bites and gets the attention of key voting blocs – tuition prices are the main higher education-related topic.

Incumbents in Iowa, Wisconsin and California have talked about tuition freezes. In Georgia, a challenger and the incumbent are sparring over who would best protect the state’s prized HOPE scholarship. In Maine, a Democrat wants to give every public college student a free sophomore year.

Other candidates get further into the weeds with talk of accountability and performance funding, though that’s mostly in their written campaign platforms and white papers, or when higher education comes up in debates.

In Florida, a tight gubernatorial race has included a back-and-forth battle over who can claim pro-higher-education bragging rights.