As the 2008 presidential election race begins to heat up rather early, Democratic and Republican candidates alike are taking their positions on the costs of higher education. While Democrats tend to believe that community college should be free-of-charge, while Republicans tend to want a decrease in the federal government’s role in education, but also want to make higher education more affordable to more families.

Democrats including John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and Joe Biden have created plans that will cover all or some of the cost of community college tuition. Some also plan to cover fees and other costs. Candidate Bill Richardson has devised a plan that involves two years of loan forgiveness for tuition and fees at all academic levels in return for national service.

Edwards is promoting a “college for everyone” initiative which covers the cost of one year of public-college tuition, fees and books for more than two million qualifies students. Meanwhile, Obama has come up with an $18 billion plan for grammar-school education to prepare students for college. He includes a $4,000 tax credit which is available for each year of school to use toward college costs.

The Republican camp has also created its own group of plans. They are generally against free higher education and are focused on how the government can lessen the financial burden on families. For example, Mitt Romney has spoken out on decreasing taxes on dividends, capital gains and interest for families that earn $200,000 per year or less to help parents save money for college.

John McCain has plans to lower taxes to make college more affordable. Rick Huckabee is against education tax credits due to the expenses involved, and believes that students should earn tuition assistance.

–Sara Elizabeth

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