State Democrats are relaunching a $1.8 billion initiative to cover Michigan students’ college tuition, but some worry the plan to fund it by closing tax loopholes is not financially responsible for a state with a shaky economy.
State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, announced earlier this month that lawmakers are bringing back the Michigan 2020 Plan — an initiative that pays tuition for any Michigan high school graduate attending any Michigan college.
The Michigan 2020 Plan first was announced January 2012 but did not continue in a Republican-controlled Legislature.
At max, students can receive up to the average cost of an undergraduate tuition, about $10,617 per year, in financial aid, according to state Senate Democrats.
Whitmer said the plan is “the best investment” for the state’s economy and won’t raise taxes.
According to the Pew Research Center, 21-to-24-year-old college graduates were half as likley to be unemployed compared to those with less education during the recession between 2007 and 2009.
“It’s time to end the political excuses for not giving this plan a vote and instead send a message that Michigan can and will create the most well-educated workforce found anywhere in the world,” Whitmer said in a statement.
The plan awards grants to students regardless of their family income. College of Education Dean Donald Heller emphasized the state should focus more on need-based college assistance.
As for keeping students in Michigan, Heller said he doesn’t know if paying for students to go to college will be enough to keep them in state.
“Students attending college in Michigan are leaving the state after graduation because there are not enough jobs here,” he said.
Whitmer plans to fund the program by closing the state’s tax loopholes. But state Rep. Jeff Farrington, R-Utica, expressed skepticism that the money collected after tax credits expire won’t be enough to fund college for all Michigan students.
“I have a son in college and would love for him to be getting free tuition, but not from a half-finished plan that can’t be taken seriously,” he said.
State Rep. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, said the plan was modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise, a 2005 program to pay tuition for graduates from public schools in Kalamazoo, Mich. Anonymous donors pay for students to attend in-state institutions based on how long the student has been in the school district.
McCann said he has seen first-hand how beneficial the tuition assistance program is.
“I am intimately aware of the positive impact the Kalamazoo Promise has had on Kalamazoo public school students,” he said. “I know the Michigan 2020 Plan will have a similar impact on students throughout Michigan.”
The Michigan 2020 Plan, Senate Bill 0223, was introduced Feb. 27 and is being discussed in the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
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