A new bill proposed by Michigan Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, would offer tax credits to graduates from in-state universities who stay in the state. It’s an effort to curb the perceived “brain drain” problem — the tendency for many young grads to move out of state and take their newfound skills and education elsewhere.
Anderson said that while the bill is no guarantee grads will stay, offering credits of half the amount paid on a “qualified” student loan in a given year — what the credits would go towards — could be the “icing on the cake.”
Many grads, including many from MSU, end up moving to major metropolitan areas such as Chicago or New York City, something that’s concerned some lawmakers and policy experts for years. Both Anderson’s bill and a similar House bill sponsored by Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, would try to curb more from doing so.
Several advocacy organizations say the bill could be a great measure for helping students pay off debt, which approached an average of about $27,000 per student this year, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.
“Anything we can do to help that right now is just fantastic,” said Jessica Leacher, ASMSU’s vice president for governmental affairs, who attended a committee hearing on the bill last Wednesday.
Others are somewhat skeptical of how much of an incentive the bill actually would provide.
Michael Boulus, director of the President’s Council, State Universities of Michigan, said that while he hasn’t formulated an official position on the proposal, the effort would be expensive.
“There’s a cost here of about $153 million,” Boulus said. “Tuition tax credits are really not a big incentive; students look to jobs and location as the two primary reasons.”
Lawmakers still are ironing out the details before they take a vote, including what makes a student loan qualified for the credits. The Democrat-sponsored bill will be a hard sell to the Republican majority in the legislature, not to mention Gov. Rick Snyder. Anderson said he thinks it might have a shot at passing because the state Department of Treasury didn’t oppose it. He said Snyder hasn’t been a big supporter of tax credit bills historically, however.
“I’m hoping that we can get it over to the House and to the governor’s desk,” Anderson said. “It’s critically important to students, especially who have a great deal at stake in the passage of this bill, to contact their own legislator.”mc
The bill “gets right at the heart” of attracting and retaining talented, educated individuals to stay in the state of Michigan, said John LaMacchia, legislative associate for the Michigan Municipal Leaguemc, adding that it could help grads stay in-state.
Support student media!
Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Discussion
Share and discuss “New bill to encourage grads to stay in Michigan” on social media.
