COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY BILL ADVANCES

Measure will explore options to increase access to higher education

AUGUSTA—With a unanimous vote from the state’s legislative leadership panel, a measure to increase access to higher education will move forward for full consideration before the legislature.

Sponsored by Senate President Justin Alfond, “An Act to Promote Higher Education,” LR 2246 would allow students to attend college tuition-free if they pay a fixed percentage of their income back to the state over a 20 year period.

“More and more jobs require a college degree, yet college is increasingly becoming out of reach for more Mainers,” said Senate President Alfond. “We need a new approach to make college more affordable.”

The measure would explore a number of different options including a “Pay it Forward, Pay it Back” system where the State of Maine could provide student loans to students enrolled in the University of Maine System, which would then be repaid when the students enter the workforce.

In Maine, 78 percent of college graduates from public four year colleges have higher education debt, and the average debt is nearly $27,000, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.

The bill also looks at scholarship programs with incentives for degree completion, tuition guarantees where students pay the same tuition rate for four years while they attend a public institution and dual enrollment programs which allow students to attend a community college for three years and then transfer to a university for one year.

For the second regular session of the legislature, bills must be approved by the Legislative Council, a committee comprised of the ten legislative leaders. The Legislative Council met today and approved slightly more than 100 bills for the second regular session, including Senate President Alfond’s bill.

The full legislature will reconvene in January 2014.

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