[StBernard] EDITORIAL: The Advocate supports Governor Blanco's plan for need-based college aid

[Westley Annis]

EDITORIAL: The Advocate supports Governor Blanco's plan for need-based college aid 

Periodically, the press office will publish editorials and columns that feature Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's work in various areas. 

The Advocate: Our Views: New agenda on tuition aid 
Published May 6, 2007 
View the article online <http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/7354866.html> 

Being a mother of six clearly influenced Gov. Kathleen Blanco's thoughts as she scanned with genuine horror the statistics about the costs of college. Blanco said she was appalled to learn that today's students in Louisiana graduate owing an average of $18,751 in student loan debt.

"How can a teacher pay that back?" And then she grinned at a table of journalists at the Governor's Mansion. "How can a journalist pay that back?"

Her audience laughed, but the reality is that Louisiana, a relatively poor state, has students taking out big loans to pay for college costs, despite TOPS tuition waivers for the better-performing students.

That level of student loan debt was 12th among the states for the graduating class of 2005. 

In Louisiana, as in the nation, college costs aren't going down. At public universities in the United States, debt levels for graduating seniors with student loans more than doubled over the past decade.

With new state revenues available in the post-hurricane years, Blanco and the state's higher education leadership proposes to devote $15 million in fiscal year 2008 for need-based scholarships and grants for college students.

That is a fraction of the state's cost for TOPS tuition waivers. And it clearly is an incentive rather than a big subsidy. At $1,000 a semester for students whose costs aren't covered by federal Pell grants. The state grants would be an encouragement. They would pay for some fees and books and the like. It would be a positive incentive for students aspiring to college.

"Louisiana benefits when the doors of higher education are open to all students who work hard and want to succeed," Blanco told the Legislature Monday. "Many in this state are not enrolled in colleges because they don't have the money to do so. They should not be denied for financial reasons."

One of the reasons for the interest in need-based scholarships is the relatively high family incomes of TOPS recipients. The annual family income of many TOPS recipients at LSU - most students at the Baton Rouge campus are covered - is north of $100,000. LSU leaders have taken notice of that number, and have promised to devote more money to aid for students from poorer families. If you qualify for LSU, Chancellor Sean O'Keefe said in a public promise, the university will do what it takes financially to allow you to go.

That's a great promise but it potentially could be a costly one. This new state program isn't going to fill the gap. It's a down payment on what the state will probably be asked to do in coming years.

Another reason for the program: College leaders are looking at stagnant or declining enrollments. 

It's not just the loss of students when whole campuses were put out of commission by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The college-age population was declining before the hurricanes, and Louisiana's perennial drop-out problem cuts the number of children who finish high school at all.

At $15 million a year, this grant program is - if popular - clearly designed by college leaders to grow in the coming years. Is it worth starting? A college-educated population is one of the best drawing cards for new business and industry. The gap between the income of college graduates and high school graduates has widened dramatically in recent years.

A college education is one of the world's best investments. Can we afford not to look at a need-based aid program? 

Higher academic standards go hand-in-hand, we think, with student aid. A student who qualifies for a university education ought to be able to do the work. Whoever pays, the student is poorly served if he's admitted without the skills to complete his degree.

A more serious long-term question is whether an aid program like this will be popular - as is TOPS - and resistant to cuts should today's good times in state revenues fade. It will serve students poorly if the Legislature has to cut direct appropriations to schools, threatening education quality, even as it devotes money to encourage students to go to Louisiana campuses.

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org