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I found this page today...very nice gesture from a small Tennessee county- http://fyi.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/01/24/free.tuition.ap/index.html

Essentially, what this county is doing is giving free tuition to the community college for all high school graduates. It is different from the Georgia HOPE scholarship and the Florida Bright Futures because a) this is locally funded and b) there is a more liberal requirement...essentially you just have to be a full time student with a C average (which people do nowadays in their sleep). Granted, this won't help once beyond community college, and also, community college is frowned down upon by Generation Y as everyone seems to be applying to Yale nowadays, but at least there is one community that has taken the initiative to help the ever-increasing college tuition and debt load

By Dadster on Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 10:46 pm: Edit

Hey, it ain't Yale, but it's free! It would be nice if this signified some kind of trend.

By Mark Y on Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 10:53 pm: Edit

It would be nice, but I don't think the public will go for it. For some reason, higher education is not as much a priority as K-12 and other issues. They just don't get it.

By Momom (Momom) on Friday, February 01, 2002 - 11:58 am: Edit

There is a similar program in Missouri. At participating high schools in the state (the schools have to be approved for the program), students sign up for the A+ program as sophomores. If they maintain a C+ average every semester, are good school citizens (not sure of the details, but it pertains to severe disciplinary problems such as suspension), and contribute at least 50 hours of community service (most kids opt for school-sponsored tutoring/cadet teaching sessions with younger students in the district), they are eligible to receive free tuition and books at any community college in the state for two years, if they maintain a minimum gpa during college (probably a 2.0). It is a wonderful program and many students in our district take advantage of it. My only problem is that there is no similar rewards for those kids who opt for four-year schools (in state). I do think it also can unfairly push kids toward community colleges, even if a 4-year school would be a better choice for them. Parents tend to say things like "why not just go to local cc since it's paid for". But any programs providing for higher education have to be applauded.

By Mark Y on Saturday, February 02, 2002 - 09:04 pm: Edit

Yeah, the fact that it only gives you tuition for community college and not for other colleges is a problem. They really should at least provide the equivalent to community college for people who want to attend another college. But the fact that they are doing anything should be applauded in these days of oppressive tuitions.

I personally think that local governments are going to have to take a more proactive stand in terms of helping kids finance college. The federal government is not going to do anything...while K-12 got a huge lift in the last few weeks, the only extra help college students this year got was a $250 increase in the maximum Pell Grant, which does not help the middle class at all (and this was higher than expected, since the original budget recommended only a $100 increase). The states aren't doing anything either. Florida is going to cut back the Bright Futures scholarship which had until now essentially eliminated tuition for state college students who met certain criteria. New York is replacing TAP grants with repayable loans that are supposedly "forgiven" when the student graduates (which I doubt). Local governments are going to have to start picking up the slack.

By burningman on Friday, February 08, 2002 - 07:20 pm: Edit

>>Local governments are going to have to start picking up the slack<<

I think that's kind of optimistic, Mark. Governments at all levels are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, and surpluses are turning into deficits overnight. I think the supposed loan forgiveness may end up being delayed or eliminated for the same reason.

By Mark Y on Saturday, February 09, 2002 - 04:02 pm: Edit

That is indeed optimistic, and I am not saying that it will be done, but there is more of a need now for local governments to help out, whether it is more scholarships or outright grants or even no-interest loans. Obviously, the problems that the states are having will likely trickle down to the local governments, so that will probably limit any assistance, but someone is eventually going to have to take charge. In fifteen years when State U will be $30,000 a year and Private Ivy U will be more than a quarter of a million dollars for a bachelor's, who's going to help these kids?

By Roger on Thursday, February 21, 2002 - 10:25 am: Edit

Tennessee has always been quite generous to in-state residents. When I was at UTK, my grad-level tuition bill was cheaper than my books!

By Mark Y on Thursday, February 21, 2002 - 08:30 pm: Edit

Obviously you haven't graduated in the last few years...as the Tennessee system is ramping up tuition at double digit percentage levels :-)

By Roger (Roger) on Friday, February 22, 2002 - 10:41 am: Edit

>>Obviously you haven't graduated in the last few years<<

Unfortunately, true enough... Still, according to US News, UTK's tuition is $3,362 for in-state vs. $10,166 for out-of-state. That's still a pretty good deal for in-state Vols.

By Mark Y on Saturday, February 23, 2002 - 12:52 pm: Edit

Yes, but it should also be noted that according to US News, the average debt load for grads is over $21,000, which even today is above average for public school grads (although I suspect that it will surpass that level very soon).

So even a relatively low tuition school has high debt...it's interesting to note that when you take into consideration the fact that this debt load is for 2000 grads and that tuition each year for them was lower than this level, the average debt is about twice what students pay in tuition (assuming they attend for only four years, which is not common nowadays). So it seems to me that Tennessee doesn't have great financial aid.

By kaymaria27 on Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 10:41 am: Edit

I need tuition help for the fall semester. I 'll take any leads.


Thanks,
Kay