Education Funding Should Not Be Cut
In her budget proposal, Governor Rell proposed cuts to higher education funding in the state that could result in tuition hikes for students. Though she failed to mention these cuts in her address to the legislature (full text – executive summary), Christine Stuart reported on them at CT News Junkie:
Although public colleges will have to tighten up their budgets, the governor’s proposal will keep its commitment to student financial aid.
“I have not and will not cut financial aid,” Rell said.
Economics professor at Gateway Community College, Lorraine Li, thinks keeping financial aid in the budget is great, but it’s not enough.
“With the cuts to higher education, there will be a raise in tuition to keep the same level of services,” Li said Wednesday. “Enrollment is up 5 percent, people are turning more to public education than private education.”
Li believes by decreasing funding a downward spiral will result.
Keeping a commitment to financial aid does not balance out an increase in tuition. It’s equivalent to maintaining the 10% senior discount in spite of price hikes, because the cost still goes up. What Connecticut needs is to make higher education more affordable, not less.
Last year, State Rep. Tim O’Brien floated a proposal to address brain drain in Connecticut. As I wrote last year, it would work by…
creating an incentive for Connecticut college students to stick around after they graduate. His plan at present would allow students to defer the entire cost of college until after graduation, and pay back only a portion of the tuition based on income. Graduates who don’t plan to stick around CT for at least 10 years would have to pay back the full amount.
The plan isn’t about giving everybody free college (although there’s nothing wrong with that, in theory), but rather deferring the costs for Connecticut residents who go back to school and commit to staying in the state after graduation. By giving the most favorable repayment terms to graduates who stay here, and making it unattractive for beneficiaries of this deferment to leave Connecticut after graduation (two things that cannot be accomplished with student loans), the population of degree holders increases. That’s one way to make the state more attractive to businesses looking to expand in the future.
It’s also a good way to boost earnings potential for a great many Connecticut residents. Their higher incomes would mean more revenue for the state. Not to mention that the increased earnings potential and employability afforded by a college degree will enable most of the beneficiaries of the program to pay for their education after they’ve received it.
Don’t cut education funding. Re-think it. Make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone in Connecticut, and we’ll be better off in the long run.