Inside Higher Ed
October 10th, 2014
Education may be a key issue in several states’ elections this fall, but referendums related to higher education are thin this political season.
There are significant proposals in North Dakota, Oregon and Georgia, but the other five ballot measures that are tied directly to colleges and universities would have relatively minor effects.
Two of this year’s biggest potential changes for higher education were placed on state ballots by largely one-party efforts, a reflection of today’s strongly partisan politics. In North Dakota, not a single Democrat in the House or the Senate voted for a proposal to change the composition of the board that oversees the state’s university system. And in Oregon, nearly every “nay” on a proposal to create a state endowment for financial aid came from the Republican side of the aisle.