Free College: The Time Has Come
N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a plan today that would make it easier for many of the state’s low-income residents to attend college — an…
N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a plan today that would make it easier for many of the state’s low-income residents to attend college — an announcement that has elicited the expected response from the governor’s critics.
While Murphy describes his plan as expanding access and making an investment in the state’s future, Republicans are critical of its cost to taxpayers. It’s a divide we’re likely to see play out throughout Murphy’s tenure, given his liberal policy proposals and the sensitivity of the state’s voters to tax increases.
New Jerseyans do pay more in taxes than most, but we also are beset by a higher cost of living and costly barriers to services that combine to make class mobility a mirage for most at the lower end of the income spectrum. Eliminating tuition for schools like Middlesex County College, where I teach, and the other 18 community colleges in the state will remove one such barrier.
Many of my students work full time and are attempting to carry a full-time course load. Their school work then suffers. They fall behind and either drop the class or fail. This outcome has little to do with their intelligence or will to succeed. The ones who fail or drop out often are as good, sometimes better, than the students who stick it out. He barriers to entry, however, are too high, the obstacles too daunting.
Imagine earning $40,000 a year as a household, paying rent, utilities, food, transportation, and all of the other regular expenses every family faces. Anti-poverty groups have estimated that an individual would need to earn at least $20 to $25 an hour in the state to cover these costs — or at least $41,600 a year. Add the cost of tuition — about $5,000 a year at Middlesex, though much of it maybe covered by some form of aid — as well as book and supplies, and the financial difficulties many students face become clearer.
The plan, which the administration estimates will cost $50 million (out of a $2.4 billion higher education budget), appears to offer a relatively cost-effective way to expand college — and opportunity — to those at the bottom of the income ladder. Murphy is proposing what he called “last dollar” grants to make community college free for one year, a plan that is similar to what is already in place in Tennessee. Essentially, the state would encourage students to apply for federal, state and private grants to cover their tuition, with the state covering the remainder. He called the plan just the first. step in a multi-year phase-in toward his goal of free community college for all New Jersey students.
This would be done in addition to a desperately needed increase in state aid to public colleges, a $28 million infusion of cash that will address some needs but is probably too small to bend the curve of tuition hikes.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R-Union) issued a press release critical of the plan, calling it part of Murphy’s “spending spree.”
“No government-funded program is free,” he said. “Taxpayers always pay the price and frankly, people in New Jersey pay far too much already.”
He said the state needs to find an alternative and more “responsible way” to address college costs and “make higher education more accessible and affordable for everyone.”
“We can partner with industry leaders to make sure students are getting the right skills to succeed in today’s workforce,” Kean said. “We can do more to bring down the cost of college and help students graduate on time.”
Kean is right that more can be done. And he’s right that nothing is free. Taxpayers will have to pay. But that’s the case for all government programs, whether it be road construction, police and fire, or public schools.
The debate over free college is similar to the one over the expansion of high school. There was a time when few Americans attended high school and even fewer graduated. Free public education and a shift in cultural assumptions — we came to agree that a diploma and the skills acquired in high school made better citizens and helped the economy — meant that attendance and graduation rates skyrocketed.
The same arguments can now be made about post-secondary education. It has become necessary, both to create an educated citizenry and to provide important skills in our modern high-tech economy. Given how important this has become and the impact it can have on social mobility, we really have little choice but to make college free and easily accessible to those who want to attend.