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GUEST COLUMN |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Brendan F. Boyle State
Rep. Tony Payton |
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Paying for college in Pennsylvania: A way that makes sense
By state Reps. Tony Payton, D-Phila., and Brendan F. Boyle, D-Phila./Montgomery
As members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, we were excited to hear Gov. Rendell make helping Pennsylvania families afford college a major priority in his annual budget address. The cost of a college education in our state is now a quiet crisis. Pennsylvania's public universities cost more than almost any other state in the nation. Too often, students do not go to college or drop out midway because they cannot afford it. This is both a personal tragedy and a societal loss.
While the governor has proposed dramatically increasing financial aid to college students, we believe a better way to help Pennsylvania’s families afford a college education, and a better investment in our state’s economic future, is to create the REACH Scholarship. Modeled after Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship, REACH would be a statewide, merit-based scholarship program. Under it, any high school senior with a 3.0 GPA and 90 percent school attendance would receive a full tuition scholarship to any public college or university in the state. All students would be eligible for REACH, regardless of race, religion, age and parental income. It is strictly based on merit. REACH would provide opportunity to those who have demonstrated responsibility.
Critics may call REACH a "pie in the sky" idea. But the fact is it already exists in a number of other states. Since Georgia enacted its HOPE scholarship in 1993, more than 750,000 students in that state have gone to college tuition-free. Many states have since followed suit and enacted similar programs, while Pennsylvania has stood still.
Helping middle-income and lower-income families afford college is not just the right thing to do; it is in our economic interests to do so. The jobs of the future increasingly require a higher education. One of the first things employers look at when deciding where to locate is the talent pool of the local workforce. As Gov. Rendell said in his address, "Pennsylvania’s future economic viability depends on having a college-educated workforce prepared to lead in the high-skills global economy." By giving Pennsylvania’s best and brightest a college education in our state, REACH would help create a stronger tax base of young professionals, which will encourage economic growth and combat the demographic crisis that threatens the state’s long-term fiscal future.
In an effort to dismiss REACH, some will no doubt claim that we can’t afford it. But the governor has proposed one potential funding mechanism, and countless other states, such as Georgia, Florida and New Mexico, have created others. So the money is there. It is a matter of priorities. As we have previously said, and as the governor said in his address, "We can’t afford not to do it."
In the four years since we first started advocating for REACH, we have been struck by how many parents in our respective districts have expressed the palpable fear that their children will not be able to afford a college education. Throughout our history, education has been the key to climbing the economic ladder and achieving the American dream. Giving parents the ability to honestly look their children in the eyes and say "If you just work hard and achieve, then you can go to college" is keeping with the spirit of the American dream.
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