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OUDAILY 2016
ELECTION ISSUE
For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma
THE RACE IS ON About this issue: With the campaign trail heating up, The Daily presents its special election edition, focusing on candidates’ stances on education and their visits to Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
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GERALD HERBERT/AP PHOTO
Cost of college becomes bipartisan LOOKING BACK
Candidates from both parties assess education
2012 state primary Republican winner: Rick Santorum — 33.8 percent of vote, 96,849 total votes Democratic winner: Barack Obama — 57.07 percent of vote, 64,259 total votes 2012 general election Winner: Mitt Romney — 66.77 percent of vote, 891,325 total votes Population demographics (from 2014) White: 75.1 percent Black or African American: 7.7 percent American Indian and Alaska Native: 9 percent Asian: 2.1 percent Hispanic or Latino: 9.8 percent
JESSE POUND @jesserpound
For all of their differences, presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle may be able to agree on one thing: reforming student loans. Both Democratic candidates have released comprehensive plans for higher educations, while Marco Rubio appears to be the only Republican candidate to have done so. Regardless, there seems to be agreement on both sides that college is too expensive and student loans too burdensome. Take a look at the candidates’ plans below.
Hillary Clinton
The former secretary of state’s plan is designed to make sure no student will have to take out loans to attend school. The goal of “The New College Compact” is for students to not have to take out loans to attend
private colleges and universities. Community college would also be free under this plan. The plan also allows student loan holders to refinance at lower interest rates.
Bernie Sanders
Sanders’ plan also calls for more funding for higher education at the state level and greater accountability measures for the schools. His plan would change higher education more than any other candidate. Under his plan, college would be free. Under his previously proposed College for All Act, Sanders would make public colleges and universities tuition-free. Additionally, Sanders proposes to change the formula for determining student loan rates, allowing borrowers to refinance their outstanding debts at lower rates and increasing federal funding for work study programs. In order to pay for 67 percent of this, Sanders would raise taxes on the finance industry. The other money for the plan is supposed to come from state funding.
Marco Rubio
The Florida Senator is focused on changing much of higher education. Rubio wants to create a new accreditation agency that will better be able to evaluate nontraditional higher education institutions. Rubio also wants to change student loan repayments to a system based on income. Payments made on student loans would be done as a proportion of income earned, theoretically keeping people with lower incomes from being swallowed up by their debts. Student debt is a personal subject for Rubio, who famously had six figures of student debt at one point.
Ted Cruz
The Texas senator has not released a plan for higher education reform. However, he has called for the abolishment of the federal Department of Education.
Donald Trump
March 1 Super Tuesday
Feb. 1 Iowa caucus Winners: Hillary Clinton Ted Cruz
Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary Winners: Bernie Sanders Donald Trump
Winner: Hillary Clinton South Carolina Republican primary
Feb. 23 Nevada Republican primary
Feb. 27 South Carolina Democratic primary
Winner: Donald Trump
Winner: Donald Trump
Winner: Hillary Clinton
John Kasich
Kasich touts his record on higher education as governor of Ohio. Tuition at public colleges and universities in the state is currently frozen, and his administration is changing state funding from a per-student method to one that is more performance based.
Ben Carson
Dr. Carson has given no plan for higher education other than calling for a more streamlined and transparent lending process for those who need to take out loans. Carson’s website states, “the Department of Education needs to get out of the lending business.”
Like Cruz, the real estate mogul has not released a higher education plan. He has previously said of the Department of Education
Road to the 2016 election Feb. 20 Nevada Democratic primary
during a speech at the South Carolina Tea Party Convention: “You could cut that way, way down.” Trump is also being sued for fraud for his role in “Trump University,” a real estate leadership program that some have called a scam.
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Jesse Pound
jesserpound@gmail.com
Registered voters in Oklahoma (as of Jan. 15, 2016)
Cleveland County registered voters (as of Jan. 15, 2016)
Democratic: 832,059 (42.04 percent) Republican: 880,130 (44.48 percent) Independent: 266,605 (13.47 percent)
Democratic: 51,934 (36.18 percent)Republican: 69,480 (48.4 percent) Independent: 22,141 (15.42 percent)
TOTAL: 1,978,807
July 18 — 21 Republican National Convention
July 25 — 28 Democratic National Convention
TOTAL: 143,555
Nov. 8 General presidential election