YOUNG PEOPLE PUT OBAMA OVER THE TOP-- AND PRESIDENT-ELECT HAS PROMISED TO HELP MAKE COLLEGE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THEM, OTHERS

A record turnout by young voters may have put Barack Obama over the top.

MSNBC reports that young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68 percent to 30 percent — the highest share of the youth vote obtained by any candidate since exit polls began reporting results by age in 1976.

And InsideHigherEd.com reports that that support may be rewarded with easier access to higher education, with special emphasis on aid to community colleges like Germanna:

[Obama said] that he worried about the challenges families faced paying for college. Included in his college access plans:

A fully refundable tax credit to cover the first $4,000 in college costs — enough for two years of community college tuition in most cases — for everyone. The only requirement would be 100 hours of public service a year; this could be performed in the summer or between semesters.


Simplification of federal aid applications. (There has been some progress on this issue, which attracts bipartisan support, since Obama spoke on it and prior to the election.)
A pledge to keep Pell Grant maximums rising at the level of inflation or higher if possible.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Obama has proposed a new grant program that would provide funds to community colleges to conduct more thorough analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local businesses; to create new associate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging careers; and to reward institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions.