What’s the best form of debt relief for a student loan borrower? Never needing to borrow in the first place.
That’s one of the reasons the free-college movement sparked so much interest during the presidential campaign, with both Democratic candidates proposing tuition-free or debt-free public college. The 44 million Americans who already owe $1.3 trillion in student loans are warily watching higher education costs , knowing they’ll likely be still repaying their own education debt when it comes time to put their kids and grandkids through college.
[Learn tips and advice on paying for college.]
But efforts to make free college a reality nationwide hit a major stumbling block this past November when Republicans, who by and large oppose the idea on the argument that taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill, won both the presidency and the Congressional majority.
Stymied on the federal front, it looks like the free – college initiative will go back to individual states. In recent weeks, both New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo unveiled bold plans to make public college more affordable.
The proposal before New York’s legislature would make two to four years of state and city college tuition free for Empire State residents earning less than $125,000 per year. The slightly less ambitious plan in Rhode Island would provide two tuition-free years for full-time students in public higher education, regardless of income.
[Discover why New York may join other states in offering tuition-free college.]
Free – college proponents haven’t been deterred by the election’s outcome, though. They point out that in recent years the return to free or reduced -price public college — some colleges used to provide free or lower cost tuition but the practice was widely abandoned by the 1970s-80s — was initially sparked at the state level. While President Barack Obama made headlines in 2015 with his America’s College Promise plan for national free community college, that proposal drew its inspiration from efforts in states such as Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma and Oregon.
And it’s not just governments ponying up. The Campaign for Free College Tuition estimates more than 50 local promise-type scholarship programs are available across the country, many of which incorporate some level of private funding. Foundations and businesses in Arkansas to Michigan and Pittsburgh to Los Angeles are stepping up to ensure greater college affordability.
These state and municipal plans have some common characteristics that prospective college students should keep in mind. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators detailed these in Assessing Tuition- and Debt-Free Higher Education T ask Force Report. For example, most plans require participants to maintain a 2.5 or higher high school GPA and be attending classes at least half-time. Additionally, most plans limit eligibility to in-state residents or to students from a particular geographic location.
[Check out 10 reasons to attend a community college.]
To be eligible, participants generally must attend a public rather than a private college, but plans vary as to the type of institutions eligible. Some require students to be enrolled in a community college or technical school and only cover two years, while others include four-year institutions. Most plans require enrollment to begin the fall term immediately following high school graduation. And most plans were restricted to students from families who earned below a specific yearly income, ranging from $85,000 to $200,000.
A majority of the plans are “last dollar,” meaning the student must apply for other grant aid first, like the federal Pell Grant, and if awarded, the institution must apply the other aid to tuition costs before a promise program kicks in.
So, are promise programs working? According to the Campaign for Free College Tuition, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research has extensively studied the Kalamazoo Promise in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the results are promising, citing a significant decrease in high school suspensions and an increase in the GPAs of African-Americans.
Further, according to the Campaign for Free College tuition, since the program’s inception in 2006, more than 90 percent of eligible students went on to college. Compared with 37 percent of all U.S. high school graduates between the ages of 25 to 29, 41 percent of the class of 2006 Kalamazoo Promise scholars have a bachelor’s degree.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Promise plan is credited with helping to boost freshman enrollment by 20 percent at colleges of applied technology and by 24.7 percent at community colleges. The plan’s requirement that all participants complete the Federal Application for Free Student Aid propelled the state to number one in the nation for FAFSA completions.
Critics of free tuition plans, however, abound along all points of the political spectrum, with those on the right arguing it’s too expensive for taxpayers and those on the left saying funding could be more effectively targeted to those in need. Americans, though, are generally supportive of the idea. Based on a post-election poll completed on behalf of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, 54 percent of Trump voters and 88 percent of Clinton voters support initiatives at the state level for tuition-free college.
In its task force report, NASFAA said, “The 2016 election results make it improbable that the push for a national-level promise program will continue, either from the White House or Congress, at least in the near future. However, the proliferation of state and local college promise programs may well be the next wave of innovation and could pave the way for a national program in the future.”
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Free College Movement May Reduce Student Borrowing originally appeared on usnews.com
