USA Today’s Wendy Puriefoy is hoisting the banner for education in election 2008 in “Missing in Campaign ‘08: The Education Candidate.” She counted the number of times education was even mentioned in the debates recently. Honestly, I don’t think she had to use more than one hand much less pull off her shoes and socks to keep count.

Puriefoy offers five questions that she’d like addressed in future debates (I don’t know about you, but I’m already getting sick of debates. I think there have been at least 92, jk =). While she is interested in K-12, we’re interested in higher ed, so here are the five questions that I’d like the candidates to address about college education in the next of the 100 or more debates that we undoubtedly have coming:

1. How much money actually goes into subsidies for banks providing student loans and what do those institutions do with that money?

2. Many candidates are for shortening the FAFSA. Has anyone consulted with the Department of Education to see if this will be practical? How will a shorter FAFSA really help people get more money for college?

3. A number of candidates have community college initiatives, but how will yours help more students become enrolled in and graduate from degree programs?

4. With so many current students and graduates under heavy loan debts, how will you help alleviate that financial burden?

5. And possibly most importantly, how will you fund your education initiatives?

With a little help from you and others, maybe we can even get these questions out to the candidates.