Not for decades have national issues that affect colleges and universities – such as financial aid allocation, student loan debt and campus diversity – been as prominent in a Presidential race as they are this year, political experts say. And while it’s too early in the game to declare a higher-ed favorite candidate, the industry has begun to puts it money on the line.
The Topic: Clinton, Bush lead in contributions from ed sectorWhy It Matters: It’s an early look at where the industry may place its bets
“Higher education is much more of an issue than it’s been in the past,” said Amy Laitinen, director for higher education at the nonprofit think tank New America. “It played some in 2012, but that was a re-election. This time, people have to say something new.”
A look at the early donation records shows that among those who work in the generally conservative for-profit college sector, the Democrat Hillary Clinton is doing surprisingly well. And among all individual donors from the ranks of higher education, Bernie Sanders is running second to Clinton, ahead of all Republicans.
People employed by colleges and universities (both nonprofits and for-profits) had donated a total of $2.8 million to presidential candidates by the last time donations were tallied, at the end of October, and had given to Democratic candidates over Republicans by a margin of about three to one, according to data from the nonpartisan group the Center for Responsive Politics. The group tracks the gifts of individuals connected with or employed by universities; the institutions themselves are not permitted to collect money for candidates.
Clinton dwarfed all other candidates overall in fundraising from these individuals, which might be expected since she is the Democratic frontrunner; also, she came out in August with a plan to lower student debt levels. Bernie Sanders, who has proposed making public colleges tuition-free, is significantly behind Clinton, but is nonetheless the second biggest recipient of higher education employees’ campaign cash as tallied so far.
Sanders had secured $364,903 in donations; Clinton had taken in $1,699,641, almost four times as much. The Republican Jeb Bush occupied a respectable third place with $205,923. It may not surprise anyone who’s been on a college campus recently that Donald Trump was in the rump of the pack, with $6,350 at the last tally.
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Those employed in the for-profit higher education sector (who gave 70 percent of their donations to Republicans in the 2012 campaign) were making Bush their top choice in the early going, with campaign contributions of about $15,000, but Clinton was running a close second with nearly $12,000 from that sector, the data show.
“Higher education is much more of an issue than it’s been in the past.”
Higher ed watchers caution that for-profit colleges depend more on political contributions to gain influence than their nonprofit peers do. Both public and nonprofit private colleges and universities have other ways to throw their weight around. They have a fairly formidable lobbying force, having spent close to $57 million in 2015, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. By way of comparison, the oil and gas industry spent about $97 million lobbying last year, while tobacco interests spent about $14 million.
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Also, the larger universities have clout because of the many jobs they provide and the number of students they serve. And the leaders of the more elite universities, such as Harvard and Yale, can leverage their prestige.
Experts also caution that people who work for a college or university may make their contribution decisions based on a candidate’s position on non-education issues such as abortion, gun control, or taxes.
“They could be giving for so many other reasons, not because of the higher education policies of that candidate,” said Laitinen. “And universities’ influence and power overall is much more in constituency rather than in dollars.”
Still, university staff members are giving in significant numbers. While employees of the massive University of California are at the top of the list with $202,000 so far, those of Harvard, Yale and Stanford have contributed more than $100,000 per university. Clinton is the top pick among employees of 19 of the top 20 contributing universities.
The next Federal Election Commission deadline for filing donor information is Jan. 31, although it takes some time after the deadline for the figures to be released.
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about Higher Education.
For-profit higher education Presidential campaign donations, top recipients
| Candidate | Total |
| Jeb Bush (R) | $15,050 |
| Hillary Clinton (D) | $11,829 |
| Lindsey Graham (R)* | $5,400 |
| Marco Rubio (R) | $2,800 |
| Martin O’Malley (D) | $2,700 |
| Rand Paul (R) | $2,000 |
| Scott Walker (R)* | $2,000 |
| Ted Cruz (R) | $1,400 |
| Ben Carson (R) | $1,000 |
| Susan Ducey (3) | $1,000 |
| Bernie Sanders (D) | $790 |
Source: Center for Responsive Politics (as of October 2015)
Higher education Presidential campaign donations, top recipients
| Candidate | Total |
| Hillary Clinton (D) | $1,699,641 |
| Bernie Sanders (D) | $364,903 |
| Jeb Bush (R) | $205,923 |
| Marco Rubio (R) | $74,315 |
| Ted Cruz (R) | $69,735 |
| Ben Carson (R) | $62,122 |
| Rand Paul (R) | $51,544 |
| Carly Fiorina (R) | $51,178 |
| Martin O’Malley (D) | $42,865 |
| Lawrence Lessig (D)* | $38,292 |
| Lindsey Graham (R)* | $29,580 |
| Chris Christie (R) | $28,950 |
| John Kasich (R) | $28,675 |
| Scott Walker (R)* | $20,358 |
Source: Center for Responsive Politics (as of October 2015)
* denotes candidates who have dropped out of the race
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