The Republican War of Words on College

By Jill Lawrence // February 26, 2012 | 5:16 p.m.

Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., speaks, at Saint Joseph's University's commencement Sunday, May 18, 2003 in Philadelphia. About 100 graduates walked of the commencement excercises rather than see the controversal Santorum awarded an honorary degree. Some students have been urging the Jesuit university to rescind Santorum's invitation to speak and be honored because of the recent flap over remarks he made about homosexuality. Santorum urged graduates to oppose popular culture and refuse to compromise their beliefs and values. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner) (AP Photo/Chris Gardner)

First came Mitt Romney's dismissive remarks about President Obama's "faculty lounge" pals. Now Rick Santorum is calling Obama snobby for urging people to go to college - and defending that view in a series of TV appearances.

"There are lot of people in this country that have no desire or no aspiration to go to college, because they have a different set of skills and desires and dreams that don't include college," Santorum said Sunday on ABC's This Week. "We should not look down our nose" at people who go to trade school to learn carpentry or plumbing," he added on NBC's Meet The Press, "and say they're somehow less" because they didn't get a four-year college degree.