Republicans Probably Not an Asset to Debt-Ridden New Hampshire Grads

Spying the young people hanging out chez Paul, Huntsman and even Romney, Gingrich and formerly Santorum in New Hampshire, you would think that they were slightly revved up about 2012. But New Hampshire’s young people also happen to have the most student debt, on average, of all the states. Many of these young folk are likely living at home, don’t have jobs, and identify with the Occupy movement, if they’re not actually participating in it. What, for this set of New Hampshire residents, might be the advantages of electing a Newt or a Mitt 9000? Since these guys could set up a veritable trust fund for America using their own earnings, could that mean they’ll use their powerful potential positions to use money that doesn’t belong to them (but to us) to make things easier for Our Future?!?! Read on for the surprising answer!

Nooooooooooooooope it does not. In fact, a common Republican argument this time around, made by Santorum, Gingrich, Paul and Perry, is that:

low-interest and subsidized federal loans are driving up the cost of college by allowing colleges to charge more because students have greater access to money to pay tuition and other expenses. Without these loans, they argue, colleges would be forced to cut costs.

Higher-ed peeps say that actually:

the cost of public college has skyrocketed in recent years because state legislatures have funded a smaller portion of university budgets as resources have been moved to health care and other priorities.

Financial aid may be a part of the equation, but so, apparently, is the fact that college enrollment has grown in the past couple of decades. Colleges have not been able to respond efficiently to the growth, leading to higher administrative costs.

President Obama, despite certain unemployment-rate-y evidence to the contrary, is still Your Friend when it comes to student debt: he launched a student loan forgiveness plan back in October 2011, which, by the way, Gingrich has called a “Ponzi scheme.”

Huntsman and Romney have not addressed this issue as much as the other candidates; they’ve both said vague things about strengthening the economy. In all likelihood all these rich white boys (except Santo, who opposes college because it’s for THE ELITE) would probably advise you, college graduate with no job, to sit tight in your childhood bedroom and wait for your local coffee joint Javapalooza to call, because you’re still better off in this job “market” with a college degree than without one, and your mom can’t wait to turn your bedroom into a sculpture studio, so appreciate the next decade in your lumpy twin bed while you have the chance. [The Ticket via Think Progress]