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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Ann
Collis |
State Rep. Tony Payton |
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Payton wants state to ‘REACH’ out to successful students
Legislation would help students who perform well in school attend college in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA, July 27 – State Rep. Tony Payton, D-Phila., announced at a news conference today new
legislation that would provide Pennsylvania students who have demonstrated
academic excellence the opportunity to attend college. He was joined by Speaker
of the House Dennis O’Brien.
Payton’s legislation would create Reliable Educational Assistance for College Hopefuls, to be referred to as REACH, a statewide merit-based scholarship program for all students in Pennsylvania who maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average and a 90 percent attendance record. The program would ensure those students would receive a scholarship covering all tuition and fees to any university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
“I believe that all responsible students who exhibit a passion for learning in
high school should be given the opportunity to continue their intellectual development,”
Payton said. ”The REACH program would do that by providing a full scholarship,
covering tuition and fees, to all qualified high school students, regardless of
economic background, gender, race and/or religious affiliation. Every public,
private and parochial school student who meets the base criteria would be
eligible for a scholarship.”
Payton added that studies on similar initiatives implemented in other states, such as the HOPE Scholarship in Georgia, have shown significant improvements in both the states’ secondary and higher education systems.
“The
REACH Scholarship
would not be a ‘giveaway’ program,” Payton said. “It would be an investment in
the state’s future. Pennsylvania currently has one of the most expensive
state university systems in the United States. This has resulted in the
troublesome phenomenon commonly referred to as the ‘brain drain’, where
students seek higher education outside of the Commonwealth.”
Payton explained that because Pennsylvania has the fastest growing population
of elderly citizens in the United States, they are dwarfing the anemic
population growth of 18-to-44-year-olds in Pennsylvania. Unless something is
done to address the “brain drain,” Pennsylvania will be met with a daunting tax
burden.
“By giving Pennsylvania’s best and brightest an incentive to stay in-state both during and after college, REACH would create a stronger tax base of young professionals, encourage economic growth and combat the population crisis that threatens Pennsylvania’s economic future.”
The cost of attending college for an in-state resident in Pennsylvania is one of the highest in the nation and tuition is increasing far quicker that the rate of inflation. In the 10-year period between 1987 and 1997, Pennsylvania college tuitions increased by 132 percent, rendering college simply unaffordable for many families in the state.
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