"The President's proposals are going to be thrown out so fast they will be soon forgotten," says Saunders.

More ominous, says Minnesota's Magrath, the next nine months are not likely to yield any substantive proposals for higher education--beyond the specific rebutting on the Reagan budge.

The Democrats "can certainly demonstrate there has been a drop in federal concern for research and development," he says. "But I'm not sure the political campaign of 1984 will bring any focused discussion on the issue." Magrath himself favors fellow Minnesotan Mondale because he shows a "specific commitment" to financial support for lower and middle-class students.

It is not clear, then, whether any of the over the education budget should have much of an active effect on students.

Harvard federal lobbyist Parker L. Coddington says of the various Democratic proposals to restore funding for aid programs. "They're all very general ideas. Price tags cannot be put on them and the cost-benefit can't even be guestimated."

Adds Minnesota's Magrath, "Political plat forms don't mean a darn thing."