Dive Summary:
- Despite colleges and universities receiving their fair share of (mostly negative) attention in the Republican Party's 2012 platform, major higher education issues like student debt and for-profit regulation have had a low profile at the party's presidential convention.
- Representatives from for-profits were largely absent, though donations suggest that consumer advocates and for-profit colleges alike feel that a Mitt Romney presidency would be friendlier to the sector.
- One prominent critic of the industry, The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, was at the convention advocating for a crackdown on for-profits' marketing to recent veterans, but protests over rising student debts and tuition levels have been largely absent due to increased police presence as a result of Hurricane Isaac and Tampa's tough attitude toward demonstrations.
From the article:
TAMPA -- Colleges and universities got plenty of attention in the Republican Party's 2012 platform, even if most of it was negative. But higher education's big-ticket policy issues, like student debt and regulation of for-profit institutions, have had a low profile here at the GOP's presidential convention. Representatives from for-profits took a pass on the convention, with only a smattering of lobbyists and administrators showing up to mingle. ...