College tuition is political fodder, from California Legislature to presidential campaign trail
Anger over the cost of college was evident during the Occupy protests last fall, when graduates railed about their debt and police wielding pepper spray and batons confronted students protesting tuition hikes. But it’s not just an issue for the political fringe. Polls show the cost of college is a big worry for most Americans. Seventy-five percent believe college is “too expensive for most Americans to afford,” according to a Pew Research Center survey earlier this year, while 71 percent say “it’s harder for today’s young people to pay for college than it was for their parents’ generation.” Californians in particular are concerned about college costs and blame state politicians, according to a 2011 survey by the Public Policy Institute of California. The poll found that 75 percent of Californians believe students have to borrow too much to pay for college, while 70 percent disapprove of the Legislature’s handling of higher education.
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by Laurel Rosenhall, The Sacramento Bee.