Rick Santorum calls it snobbery to suggest that students ought to go to college. On Monday, several of his fellow Republicans - and President Barack Obama - begged to differ.

Some GOP governors in Washington for the National Governors Association conference took issue with Santorum's remark, which he made Saturday as he mounted a last-minute sprint for votes before today's primary in Michigan.

"I wish he'd said it differently," Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said of Santorum. "When you look at what's going on in other countries - China, India, the premium they put on higher education - we've got to do better if we still want to be the global leader we are."

McDonnell, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, was echoed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, another Romney supporter, as well as Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who have not endorsed any of the remaining candidates in the presidential race.

Santorum also drew a tacit rebuke from the president, who defended his education policies Monday in an address to the governor's group. He said his higher education plan includes a vision for those students who do not attend traditional universities.

"I'm not only talking about four-year degrees," Obama said. "I'm also talking about going to community college to get a degree for a manufacturing job where you have to walk through the door to handle a million-dollar piece of equipment."

The dust-up comes at a critical juncture for Santorum, who is trying to maintain his momentum in the Republican presidential race in the face of increased scrutiny since his surprising victories this month in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Michigan is prime territory for Santorum, a social conservative who has tried to play up his working-class roots. Throughout his campaign he has painted Obama and Romney as Washington elites who are trying to impose their values on those who spend weekdays working in factories and Sunday mornings in church.

It was an extension of that cultural attack when he criticized Obama on Saturday as a "snob" for wanting "everybody to go to college." He went on to say that Obama wants students to attend liberal universities so that they can be inculcated in the same values that drive the president.

"Not all folks are gifted in the same way," Santorum told a crowd of more than a thousand activists at the Americans for Prosperity forum in Troy, Mich. "Some people have incredible gifts with their hands. ... President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob."

His message has resonated with some conservative voters, whose support has pushed Santorum into a competitive position against Romney.