Politics & Government

Poll: Are College Degrees for 'Snobs?'

'President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.' – Rick Santorum.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’scomments recently that characterized Obama as a “snob” for wanting “everybody in America to go to college” has triggered rebukes from Republican governors as well as broader discussions on workforce issues nationally.

Santorum’s comments came while campaigning in Michigan, which is holding its primary Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has also been campaigning heavily inMichigan in hopes of solidifying himself as the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination.

“Not all folks are gifted in the same way,”Santorum said Saturday, according to TheWashington Post. “Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. Some people have incredible gifts and ... want to work out there making things. President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”

Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Post reported that Santorum added: “There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor trying to indoctrinate them.”

Some Republican governors have taken issue with Santorum’s comments.

Find out what's happening in Eldersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I wish [Santorum] had said it differently," said Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, according to the Huffington Post. "I'm pushing in Virginia this year 100,000 new degrees over the next 15 years. I want more college graduates. But that means community college and four-year universities, but not to the exclusion of realizing that some people are going to graduate from high school and be in the trades. What we say is we want somebody to be career ready or college ready. If we haven't done one of those two things for the young people, we have failed you."

Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley has also weighed in, reports Fox News.

"I think the bottom line is we all recognize the more a person learns, the more a person earns," Foxreported O’Malley saying.

Santorum’s comments come as a historically high number of people are earning college degrees.

Five percent of Americans had a four-year college degree in 1947, compared to three in 10 adults who have the degrees in 2011, reported The Washington Post.

Weigh in below and in our poll: What do you think of Santorum’s comments?


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Eldersburg