Education may be a key issue in several states' elections this fall, but referendums related to higher education are thin this political season.
There are significant proposals in North Dakota, Oregon and Georgia, but the other five ballot measures that are tied directly to colleges and universities would have relatively minor effects.
Two of this year's biggest potential changes for higher education were placed on state ballots by largely one-party efforts, a reflection of today’s strongly partisan politics. In North Dakota, not a single Democrat in the House or the Senate voted for a proposal to change the composition of the board that oversees the state's university system. And in Oregon, nearly every "nay" on a proposal to create a state endowment for financial aid came from the Republican side of the aisle.
In Georgia's legislature, on the other hand, most Republican and Democratic lawmakers are behind an idea to privatize dorms within the state's university system. The project hinges on the creation of a tax exemption on the ballot in November.
Some higher education officials also have their eyes on bids to raise the minimum wage in five states, which could drive up the budgets of colleges that pay current minimum wage to many employees.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/10/higher-education-ballot