What Does Criticism of Free College Tuition in Oregon & NY Mean for RI?
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
States with free college tuition plans and proposals are facing increased scrutiny, from their cost to effectiveness, after Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced her proposal last month to guarantee two years free tuition at in-state school to qualified students.
“Critics blast Cuomo’s free-college tuition plan as a ‘sham,” wrote Aaron Short for the New York Post on February 5.
“Promise too costly?” posed Ashley Smith for Inside Higher Ed on Monday, of Oregon's free community college tuition program.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTConcerns raised in New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $163 million proposal range from the fiscal (given New York, like Rhode Island, recently increased tuition and fees at state colleges) to practical (the prospect of hurting private colleges).
In Oregon, where a free community college program currently exists, and has the same “last dollar” model proposed in Rhode Island, a report found that students from higher income families were disproportionately benefiting from the program (and enrollment numbers show that high school graduates enrolled in the state’s public universities has declined slightly during the time of the program, which unlike Rhode Island, is only open to the community colleges).
Different Models, Different Concerns
In January, Raimondo touted her proposal to provide two years of free college tuition at one of the state’s three public colleges, which would cost the state $10 million in the upcoming fiscal year to start implementation, to $30 million once fully phased in by 2021.
“Tonight I say that we stand together and expand our Rhode Island Promise. That we ensure every young person in our state has an opportunity to compete for the good-paying jobs that we’re creating,” said Raimondo. “Today, I say that we take charge of our future.”
Raimondo’s proposal was met immediately with pushback from Republicans.
"This new ‘free’ program seems designed to grab headlines without being well thought out," said Rhode Island House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan. "To be sure seeking to make college more affordable is a laudable goal, but this new and expensive proposal is being made against a backdrop of our K-12 public schools struggling to graduate children with the knowledge and skills that are needed to benefit from higher education.”
In New York — where the tuition, unlike Rhode Island, would go to families who earn less than $100,000 — pushback came equally from Democrats, according to Short’s article in the Post.
Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said the Cuomo plan hurts private colleges that compete with CUNY and SUNY for pupils. “Some people would be drawn away from those [private] institutions,” he said.
“[Cuomo] wants these scholarships for the middle class and in the same bill he’s allowing universities to increase tuition,” said Assemblyman Charles Barron. “I feel it’s disingenuous and hypocritical.”
Meanwhile Inside Higher Ed’s Smith wrote of Oregon this week that the focus on community colleges was hurting four year schools
Portland State University officials can’t directly attribute all of their decrease in new freshman resident applications to the Promise, but they’re certain the program played some role in the drop. The university saw a 9 percent decrease in first-year, in-state resident students from this year compared to last year and a 14-percent decrease in new freshman residents who were admitted to the institution.
“In the application pool we saw a decrease in resident applicants this past fall, and we think it's attributable to Oregon Promise,” said Shannon Carr, executive director of undergraduate admissions at Portland State University. “The information about Oregon Promise was sent out, and it wasn’t really clear in terms of how many students were receiving it … how far that money would go …. Counselors were really advising students to start at a community college instead of a four-year institution. We saw that conversation happening from the guidance counseling community, and that had an impact on overall applications.”
Questions to Governor Raimondo's office about the concerns raised in Oregon and New York were not responded to under deadline on Monday.
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