Higher Ed on the Hill: Joe v. Kamala – Different Ticket, Same Tune

Welcome back to Higher Ed on the Hill where we break down the top issues driving higher education policy. Up to bat today – what would (Vice) President Kamala Harris’ higher education agenda look like?

As political insiders and talking heads opine on potential Vice-Presidential nominations, the CASE Team has been digging into Harris’ record on higher education policy.

What can be, unburdened by what has been? The Harris, then Biden, student loan bailout.

• In 2017, then-Senator Harris was the original co-sponsor of Senator Bernie Sander’s free-college plan. Five years later, while President Biden vacillated on whether to forgive mass students loans, VP Harris took charge and formally announced “the largest ever single discharge of federal student loan debt.”
• You can draw your own conclusions here, but please enjoy this video of Senator Elizabeth Warren and then-Senator Harris describing student loan debt as “a psychic burden in addition to a financial burden.”

Harris has indicated she will replace top national security officials, but how about Secretary Miguel Cardona?

• Secretary Cardona recently came under fire because of his pledge to shut down Grand Canyon University, our nation’s largest Christian college, and received no pushback from the administration. And now, one of Cardona’s senior advisors is joining the Harris campaign as a senior spokesperson.

Once a Border Czar, always a Border Czar.

• Last week, the Biden-Harris administration quietly released a proposal to allow illegal immigrants into college prep programs designed to lift lower-income American students out of poverty and help student with disabilities gain access to higher education. Not only would this proposal stretch already-thin resources, but it showcases the lengths the administration is willing to go to gain votes ahead of the election.

From our perspective, it seems any Harris administration would continue its radical education agenda and probably take it a mile further. Not only has she parroted the free college agenda, but she spent the early part of her career killing any alternative college that caters to veterans, working-class parents, and minorities.

Be sure to check out our most recent report Cardona Bias here.