There’s Joe Sixpack and Joe the Plumber. But have the presidential candidates forgotten about Joe the College Student?

Actually, not completely. As they do for issues like health care, foreign policy and the economy, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have specific platforms for higher education.

Obama proposes the creation of the American Opportunity Tax Credit. It would be available for the first $4,000 of a student’s college education, given they are willing to perform 100 hours of community service. Obama says it will make community college free for most Americans and cover two-thirds of tuition at the average public college or university.

Junior accountancy major Ken Eberhardt said that while he personally wouldn’t need the credit as his parents pay for his education, it would be beneficial to many college students.

“I think the average student that has to pay off an $8,000 to $10,000 loan every year – I think it would be a great idea,” Eberhardt said.

McCain wants to simplify the existing higher education tax credits so more eligible families and students claim them.

Obama also proposes to eliminate the current financial aid application and make it so families and students just have to check a box on their tax returns to apply for aid.

Eighty percent of NIU students use the online version of the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FASFA), said Jane Jordan, associate director of Student Financial Aid. She said it has been well-received.

McCain also wants to simplify the financial aid application process by consolidating programs to
help students better understand their eligibility for aid.

The GOP candidate also proposes making information on higher education more available to parents, eliminating earmarks to provide more funding for university research and expanding the “lender-of-last resort capability of the federal student loan system.”

For any of these policies to be enacted, the president will have to have someone introduce the bills in the House and Senate, said Matthew Streb, associate professor of political science. But that’s not all.

“Because of the complexity of how a bill becomes a law, presidents’ bills often look dramatically different once the bill reaches the president’s desk for his signature,” he said.

Political science professor Barbara Burrell said it may be years before any of these higher education policies are enacted as the economy will be the most important issue facing the next president.

“Once he’s there, he’s really got to set his priorities,” she said. “He’s only got a certain amount of political capital.”

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