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As a senator from Massachusetts, John Kerry largely steered clear of higher-education issues, leaving them to the senior senator from his state, Edward M. Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate's education committee.
But as the Democratic nominee for president, Mr. Kerry has put forward a dizzying array of college-related proposals, the most, some observers say, since Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992. In fact, some are calling Mr. Kerry's higher-education platform "Clinton redux." It includes an expansion of Clinton-era tuition tax credits, national service, and student-loan reforms.
Mr. Kerry has also struck out on his own, with proposals intended to relax what he calls the "middle-class squeeze," namely rising college tu-
ition. He has pledged some $10-billion in federal aid to states if they hold down tuition increases at public colleges. And with accountability on the minds of middle-class voters in the wake of corporate scandals, he has called on colleges to share more data on their enrollment and graduation rates in application materials and on Web sites.
While higher education has been overshadowed this year by national security, the war in Iraq, and the economy, Mr. Kerry's campaign has tried to play up college issues on several occasions, mostly through weeklong "college tours." In April the candidate visited campuses in four states, and two weeks ago his two daughters, stepson, and the daughter of his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, made a swing through campuses in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The underlying political message at all those events was simple: Higher education is inseparably linked to the economy. Invest in one and the other will in turn improve.
"Kerry understands that higher education is the single biggest supplier of economic growth," says Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit group focused on expanding educational opportunities in the state. "The success of universities is a linchpin of the economy. John Kerry gets that the two drivers of the economy -- skills and innovation -- are chiefly higher-ed products."
Even so, Mr. Kerry's higher-education agenda is pricey and, at times, sketchy. The senator, for instance, has called for an overhaul of the federal government's guaranteed-student-loan program to pay for his expansion of national service. But the plan offers few...