Jenna Ashley Robinson is providing a public service by reporting the higher-education claims, proposals, and experience of the Republican candidates. (Hers is a companion piece to Jay Schalin’s earlier review of President Obama’s policies and pronouncements.) Newt Gingrich would teach a college course from the White House, Jon Huntsman would improve vocational training, Ron Paul would get the federal government out of education, and Mitt Romney is opposed to the DREAM Act, to name a few tidbits.
Indeed, few of the candidates seem to have thought a lot about the subject, except for Rick Perry. His ongoing efforts to increase faculty productivity and cut costs in Texas have not won him many friends in the higher-education community but have made him a champion of reforming public universities.