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This is the second in a four-part series looking at the presidential candidates' positions on issues that affect North Carolina.In a region where higher education is a meal ticket for thousands of faculty and students, it doesn't take long before political debates take an academic bent. Presidential candidates find voters who parse proposals involving student loans, Pell Grants and the graduation rates at community colleges."Higher education won't be the only issue that determines my vote, but there is no doubt it is the one that most directly affects me," said Nick Tosco, a senior at N.C. State and a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama.Detailed proposals belong almost exclusively to Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic party's presidential nomination. College affordability is at the top of the list for both, although neither suggests affordable means cheap.The issue is pressing because average student debt has more than doubled nationally since the mid-1990s. And it is a particularly sensitive topic in North Carolina, where the state constitution guarantees citizens a free university education "as far as practicable."It isn't close to free anymore. North Carolina seniors who graduated in 2006 owed an average of about $18,000 in student loans, according to the Project On Student Debt, a nonprofit group that provides research and analysis on college costs.That figure has increased because of trends away from grants and scholarships, which do not need to be repaid, in favor of student loans."Getting a loan isn't the problem," said Amanda Vaughn, a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill who belongs to Heels for Hillary. "The problem is getting so much you don't know how you will pay it all back."Clinton and Obama are both proposing tax credits to help reduce those costs.Obama's American Opportunity Tax Credit would guarantee that the first $4,000 of a college education is free for most Americans. Clinton's approach is similar but uses a sliding scale for a tax credit that tops out at $3,500.Both proposals would make the credit available when college expenses are paid, which is different from the current approach. The existing Hope tax credit, for example, is used to reduce taxes by as much as $1,650 when federal returns are filed.Either approach would significantly expand the current credit, which supporters say is the most pragmatic way to make college more affordable.The bulk of the money would come from eliminating subsidies now paid to private lenders in favor of a program that allows colleges to obtain loans directly from the Education Department. The direct lending program currently handles only a small percentage of student loans.Flies in the ointmentMolly Broad, former UNC system president and incoming president of the American Council on Education, applauds efforts to make college more affordable. But she warned that the proposals face obvious hurdles.There is no system in place that allows families to apply tax credits when college bills are due. Such an approach would probably require vouchers of some sort, but trying to build that kind of program from scratch would be daunting for financial aid offices, Broad said.The proposed credits also would be refundable, meaning they can exceed the amount of federal tax a family owes. That is likely to require changes in federal tax code, which in turn would trigger long and labored negotiations."It requires a whole new administrative apparatus with the Internal Revenue Service," Broad said. "There are many, many details that would need to be addressed. It isn't clear at all how you would administer something like this."
tim.simmons@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4535
