Moore: Raimondo’s Free College Folly
Monday, January 30, 2017
The cost of college is a massive problem in this country. And it is incumbent upon politicians and leaders across America to try and stem this problem.
So it made for a spectacular sound bite and headline when Gina Raimondo announced her plan for the state of Rhode Island to cover junior and senior years tuition and fees (not including room and board) for all students who attend Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island. If students wish to go for an associate’s degree, the state will pay for the tuition at the Community College of Rhode Island.
The plan would be made available to all Rhode Island students who graduate high school this year and going forward. It sounds great.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut is it actually necessary? Her plan is such a liberal giveaway, and such blatant pandering to the far left wing of the Democratic Party, which dominated the Democratic Primary for the Presidential Preference here in Rhode Island.
Coming With No Strings
The problem with this plan isn’t the price tag. Raimondo estimates that it would cost state taxpayers roughly $30 million. Even if she’s being overly optimistic, and I would guess that she is, it still won’t be a massive dent in the state budget. For instance, if the cost is $50 million--it will still only represent about one half of one percent of the state budget--since the budget is about $9 billion.
The problem with the plan is that it requires no accountability from the folks who are receiving the free college. The students don’t need to maintain a certain GPA. They don’t need to score a certain proficiency on a standardized test.
And if they decide to skirt their responsibilities and not show the necessary focus and determination to make the grade, the students should have to reimburse taxpayers for wasting their money, right? Nope! Not according to the Raimondo Free College Plan. The students won’t have to reimburse taxpayers one dime if they spend more time partying, watching sports, or playing video games instead of studying.
Rational people would say that there should at least be some income guidelines that students should have to meet. In other words, why should taxpayers have to foot the bill for college tuition payments for students whose parents are raking in more than $250,000 per year?
Complete Giveaway
Don’t expect the Governor to be able to tell us why. But she believes there should be no income guidelines at all. Anyone who lives in Rhode Island will be able to take advantage of this plan--regardless of income. That means those who are struggling to get by, and God forbid, get ahead, will be forced to pay for the college educations of trust fund babies.
Make no mistake about it: this plan is far inferior to the college plan that Hillary Clinton proposed during her run for President last year.
Clinton’s plan had income guidelines.
"I'm a little different from those who say free college for everybody," Hillary Clinton told NBC back in 2015.
“I am not in favor of making college free for Donald Trump's kids. I am in favor of making college free for your grandson by having no-debt tuition.”
Clinton’s plan was an attempt to make college “debt free”, not totally free. Students would still have some skin in the game.
A Flawed Plan
Yet this plan is going over splendidly with progressives, because they love the word “free” more than any other in the English language.
But let’s face it: the plan is severely flawed.
It would have been nice if Raimondo’s plan, at the very least, required the students to spend a certain amount of time volunteering. There are food pantries, the Rhode Island Food Bank, and scores of other social service agencies in our state that could certainly use the help.
That’s what the state legislature should do. They should create income guidelines. They should set rules that make certain that students maintain a proper grade point average. There should be penalties that force students to pay for school if they don’t finish.
Any Giving Back?
And students should be forced to volunteer their time to worthy causes in exchange for receiving tuition compensation from taxpayers. Volunteering for good causes actually does more for the volunteer by way of character building than it does for the people receiving the help.
All things considered, we should be doing doing something to help struggling students so that they don’t leave school saddled with ridiculous debt levels.
But let’s craft a plan that helps people who actually need it, demands that students be responsible, and forces them to give back.
It’s up to the legislature to make this a reality, since the Governor’s plan certainly doesn’t do any of this.
Russell J. Moore has worked on both sides of the desk in Rhode Island government, both for newspapers and on political campaigns. Send him email at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @russmoore713.
Related Slideshow: Winners and Losers in Raimondo’s FY18 Budget Proposal
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