With President Barack Obama’s win against Mitt Romney, opinions remain divided on how college students will be affected in the future.

“I love it,” said senior Felecia Russell, political science major at CLU.  “I was very excited. I’m glad Barack Obama gets to be re-elected.”

Marina Fote, a junior and a political science major, wasn’t  as confident.

“I do have faith that Obama will be able to do more in the next four years, but I just don’t know that he was the right choice at this point,” said Fote.

On Nov. 7, Obama won one of the most expensive and elections in history.

His re-election has had a huge impact on students concerned with rising tuition, student loan debt and attaining corresponding careers within their majors in the near future. Some believe that Obama will help students and young people moving forward, while others have a completely different perspective.

“It’s going to do very well for students as a whole,” said Gregory Freeland, professor of political science at California Lutheran University.

“If it continues like it is, I don’t think students should be that worried.”

Freeland said that according to Obama’s campaign, he has plans to keep interest rates down on student loans as well as increase the amounts of the loans.

He also said that the economy is improving slowly and that job rates should go up.

Bill Watkins, executive director of the CLU Center for Economic Research and Forecasting, said he is concerned about the potential debt that students will face from school loans and that it will probably be harder for graduating students to start a career if the economy stays the same.

Watkins felt overall Romney’s economical policies were preferable over Obama’s.

“It is taking a very long time for young people to find jobs,” said Watkins. “Economic research is very clear that students who enter a job market at a bad time, it doesn’t affect just a few years, it effects the entire trajectory of their career.”

As a student hoping to get a job herself in the future, Fote was also concerned about students finding jobs after graduating if the economy doesn’t improve.

“For students, it’s definitely going to look pretty grim at first is my feeling,” said Fote’ “I definitely do think that with a Democrat in office again, it’s going to be more difficult to get jobs.”

Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College, studied the potential effects of the results of the election.

She presented “Deciding Factors: Race, Class and Gender” at Samuelson Chapel on Nov. 12.

The lecture analyzed how race and gender affected the 2012 election.

She believes that Obama being re-elected should help students in regards to funding for education.

“The Democrats have been more supportive of funding for education at every level,” said Heldman. “In many of the Republican plans, there were proposed cuts to Pell Grants.”

She said that Obama would make sure that no funding cuts are made to higher education.

Russell said that she was most concerned about the grants, but in Obama’s plan, “the Pell Grants will be safe.”

“You know, we will see what happens,” said Fote.

Heather Ford
Staff Writer
Published Nov. 14, 2012