Got Tuition?, a campaign by the National Education Association, hosted a conference call to discuss the importance of young voters in the 2008 election and the ways to lower the cost of a college education.

Twenty-four million young voters turned out to the polls on Tuesday, up two million from 2004. They voted by a 2-to-1 margin for Barack Obama. During his campaign, Obama courted young voters by adding the lowering of college tuition rates to his agenda. Obama also supported a greater utilization of the Department of Education’s Direct Loan Program, which would be a more efficient way of giving out loans than private loan programs. Bob Brandon of the Campaign for College Affordability also suggested investing more in state governments, which have been the primary cause for tuition increases at state colleges.

“The tuition for public institutions..has gone up 60 percent since 2000,” said Brandon. As a result, 400,000 people a year put off going to college because of the cost, he said. This means we will have four million fewer higher education degrees over the next decade. “At a time when the economy becomes increasingly global and the need for us to compete in the world, it’s the very time we should be investing in turning out more college-educated workers to meet the challenges of the future.”

The youth vote is expected to play a significant role in this election, and according to Erica Williams of Campus Progress Action, they will vote down the ballot and with unique attention to the issues, especially college affordability.

“Young people are voting, and they are voting in record numbers, because of the issues they care about,” said Williams during a National Education Association conference call.

“We found out that since 2000 the cost of an average public college’s tuition and fees has risen over 58%. The average debt a college graduate faces can sometimes prevent 22% from attending any college at all, and 48% of college qualified high school graduates from attending a four year institution.”

The low youth turnout in previous elections has been partially attributed to difficulties in the registration process. To counter this, organizations like Rock the Vote have been holding massive voter registration drives.

“This year we’ve had over 2.54 million people download a voter registration form from our website…we’re injecting million of young voters into the political process, and if we look back to 2004, 82 of registered young people voted, and we expect to see at least those same rates again,” said Executive Director of Rock the Vote Heather Smith.

The youth vote is expected to play a role in state elections as well. Harris Parnell of the League of Youth Voters pointed to a California ballot initiative that would fund prisons at the expense of the education.

“California voters are going to have to vote on proposition 6, which basically puts more money from the California general fund into the prison system, which is happening at the same time the state has defunded the University of California system, so young voters are making a connection between the educational hardships they’re facing, and the state’s decision to direct resources elsewhere.

Smith says that the importance of the youth vote has been acknowledged by those running. “Candidates are paying attention to them, and you’re seeing everyone from senate candidates on down the ballot to the presidential [candidates], really for the first time in history, reaching out and asking young people for their votes.”

Andrew Myers of Myers Research, who performed a poll on the public views on tuition costs, explains that Obama mentions college tuition in so many speeches because it is an important part of the economic debate (0:16).

 

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The rising cost of tuition exacerbates the financial burden facing college bound students. According to Bob Brandon of the Campaign for College Affordability tuition in public institution have gone up 60 percent in the past eight years (0:30)

 

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