264 days to go…

Oyez, Oyez, Millennial Memo readers! Young voters have played an important role in determining the outcomes in both Iowa and New Hampshire, but candidates for both the Democratic and Republican primary contests face new tests in earning their support beginning this Saturday. Share this week’s Millennial Memo with your colleagues and friends, and sign up for updates here.

GOV. KASICH ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR STUDENT LOAN REFINANCING: “Republican presidential candidate and Ohio governor John Kasich made a stop at Grand Valley State University Feb. 15, where he touched on student debt, the economy and getting a job after graduation. ‘Our leaders in higher education have got to work to control their administrative costs, which are going through the roof,’ Kasich said, saying students should be able to restructure their debt as interest rates fluctuate… ‘It’s never too late to get to the community college. It’s never too late to upgrade those skills because you have to (do) a lifelong education in America.’” (The Collegiate, 2/15/2016)

SCRUTINY OVER JANE SANDERS’ TENURE AT BURLINGTON COLLEGE: “When Jane Sanders was in charge of a small private college in Vermont for seven years, it sank deep into debt while trying to expand its campus. Many students took out tens of thousands of dollars in loans to attend, but their investment was questionable: Only a third of former Burlington College students earn more than the average person with a high school diploma… Jane Sanders, who led Burlington College from 2004 to 2011, spent millions on a new campus — 33 acres along the bank of Lake Champlain — to attract more students and donations from alumni. It didn’t work: The college failed to recruit enough students or donations to repay its debts and even came close to losing its accreditation.” (Politico, 2/11/2016)

STUDENTS GIVE PERSPECTIVE: “The problems at Burlington College, especially with the school’s accreditation, left students wondering whether their degrees would be worth much when they graduated, several former students told POLITICO… Burlington alumnus DeWolfe Morrow remembers working on his final project in film while trying to tune out the turmoil around the college’s leadership and accreditation in 2014 and 2015… Morrow noted. ‘I didn’t know how long the college was going to last. I thought, ‘I hope I get my degree before it shuts down,’’ Morrow said. He graduated in spring 2015 and says he’s still interested in pursuing film, though he doesn’t have a full-time job in the field. He said he supports Bernie Sanders, in part because of Sanders’s plan for eliminating public school tuition.” (Politico, 2/11/2016)

RIGHT TO RISE “ICEBERG” AD DINGS THE DONALD FOR TRUMP UNIVERSITY FRAUD ACCUSATIONS: The ad’s narrator says: “Look past the boasting and you’ll see right through him,… His phoney Trump University, accused of fraud… If Trump wins, conservatives lose.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, GOP pollster McInturff said: “I kind of hate to say it, but the millennial generation is now important. Their views are becoming the dominant public views.”

NEVADA, MILLENNIALS, & THE LATINO VOTE: “Based on analysis from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Education Fund, the Latino voter turnout in Nevada is expected to increase again. Compared to 72,000 Latino voters in 2004 and 157,000 voters in 2012, the 2016 election season could see more than 194,000 Latino voters engaged in politics. With the aforementioned tally of registered Latino registered voters, Latinos account for 13 percent of the total Nevada electorate… The average Latino registered voter is young compared to non-Latinos. Within the millennial demographic, voters age 18 to 24 represent 16 percent of the Nevada Latino electorate, as compared to the 8 percent among the same age group of non-Latinos. With the latter half of the millennial age group, 25 to 34-year-olds, Latino registered voters comprise 24 percent, compared to 16 percent of non-Latinos. In regards to political party affiliation, the Republican Party might need to boost its ground-roots efforts. According to NALEO, 55 percent of Latinos identified as Democrat, significantly higher than 17 percent as Republican and 28 percent as “other.” But a common trend emerged with both Latinos and non-Latinos: Slightly more than one in every four voters is not affiliated with a major political party.” (Latin Post, 2/16/2016)

BROOKINGS’ MATT CHINGOS BREAKS DOWN THE BUSH PLAN: According to Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Matt Chingos: “Jeb Bush’s higher education plan attracted little notice in the heat of a campaign that has focused more on personalities than policy details, but his proposed reforms to the federal student loan program deserve serious attention regardless of the outcome of his bid for the presidency. Bush’s plan solves many of the problems of the existing loan system and improves on the leading proposed solutions by allowing individuals to pay for their college educations based on how much they spend and how much they earn after college… This report examines how the Bush plan would affect undergraduate students with different levels of borrowing and income, as compared to both the standard 10-year repayment schedule and the revised pay as you earn (REPAYE) income-driven repayment plan… My analysis produces two main findings. First, the total amount repaid increases much more smoothly with income under the Bush plan than under REPAYE. This is because borrowers pay a constant share of their income under the Bush plan. Low- and high-income borrowers pay more under the Bush plan than under REPAYE, whereas middle-income borrowers pay less under the Bush plan than under REPAYE. Second, the Bush plan creates a stronger link between borrowing and repayment amounts than REPAYE. This means that the Bush plan addresses a leading concern with automatic income-driven repayment plans—that they will make students less sensitive to the prices charged by colleges and lead to further increases in tuition.” (Brookings, 2/11/2016)

CLINTON INVOKES WALKER IN QUESTIONING THE FEASIBILITY OF SANDERS’ FREE-COLLEGE PAY-FOR: Speaking about Senator Sanders’ tuition-free college plan at last week’s Democratic debate in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Secretary Clinton said: “you know, I think, again, both of us share the goal of trying to make college affordable for all young Americans. And I have set forth a compact that would do just that for debt-free tuition. We differ, however, on a couple of key points. One of them being that if you don’t have some agreement within the system from states and from families and from students, it’s hard to get to where we need to go. And Senator Sanders’s plan really rests on making sure that governors like Scott Walker contribute $23 billion on the first day to make college free. I am a little skeptical about your governor actually caring enough about higher education to make any kind of commitment like that.” Sanders did not respond directly to Clinton’s critique. (The New York Times, 2/11/2016)

CRUZ HITS RUBIO FOR SUPPORTING IN-STATE TUITION FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS: “You know, the lines are very, very clear. Marco right now supports citizenship for 12 million people here illegally. I oppose citizenship. Marco stood on the debate stage and said that. But I would note not only that, Marco has a long record when it comes to amnesty. In the state of Florida, as speaker of the house, he supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. In addition to that, Marco went on Univision in Spanish and said he would not rescind President Obama’s illegal executive amnesty on his first day in office.” (The Washington Post, 2/13/2016

SENATE SPECIAL–IN “STATE OF THE RACE” MEMO, HASSAN CONTRASTS HER AGENDA WITH AYOTTE’S RECORD: In a memo last week from Governor Hassan’s Campaign Manager Marc Goldberg sought to contrast his boss’s record of “making college more affordable” with Senator Ayotte’s record on higher education issues. Goldberg wrote: “[Governor Hassan] froze tuition at state universities for the first time in 25 years, and lowered tuition at our community colleges. In the Senate, she will focus on efforts like expanding access to Pell Grants and supporting initiatives that allow students to refinance their loans… Ayotte has repeatedly voted to slash funding for Pell Grants and voted against allowing students to refinance their student loans.” Ayotte’s campaign has yet to respond to the Hassan campaign’s charges. (MaggieHassan.com, 2/11/2016)

Bernie Sanders and the votes of emerging adults, The Washington Post, Jeffrey Selingo

Antonin Scalia’s Death Probably Won’t Affect ‘Fisher,’ but It Could Change the Future of Affirmative Action, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Eric Hoover and Eric Kelderman