Today, Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac announced that it will provide scholarship funds for out-of-district students who want to use Michigan Community College Guarantee funds. Currently, the program will pay only in-district tuition for recent high school graduates.
Using federal financial aid and scholarship funds, SMC will “bridge the gap” for students who don’t qualify for in-district tuition under the state’s new free community college program. This is the way to cover increased tuition costs for these students. Michigan has 28 public community colleges and three tribal colleges. About 80% of Michigan residents qualify for in-district tuition through the Michigan Community College grant program.
For the 20% who don’t qualify, the grant will cover the cost of in-district tuition and the student will need to cover the remaining cost. These students can use scholarships or federal financial aid.
Some critics of the Governor’s plan are quick to point out that 20% of Michigan’s recent high school graduates cannot take advantage of “free” community college tuition. At the same time, these critics could have taken steps to encourage areas that don’t have a community college to join a district.
Alternately, unserved areas could pass a millage that would pay a student’s remaining costs after applying the state’s community college grant. Or – as SMC did – colleges could find or create scholarship funds that fill in the gap left by the state’s eligibility rules.
There’s only a limited recognition that taxpayers in community college districts pay taxes to defray the cost of residents’ attendance, provide campus facilities, and pay for the operation of the college. Students who live outside a community college district don’t pay these costs, so they shouldn’t benefit from the efforts of those who do.
Tuition breaks should be kept local
Washtenaw Community College has taken a different approach. They lowered the online tuition for students who live out-of-district, out-of-state, and out-of-country. This created a subsidy for these student and enables them to benefit from the long-term investments by Washtenaw County residents without paying the unsubsidized costs of attending WCC.
In creating this subsidy, the WCC Board of Trustees has forfeited its right to complain about the apparent decreases in state funding for community colleges. The trustees are literally giving away Washtenaw County tax revenues to non-residents, so those in Washtenaw County who are actually paying the bill for this generosity should no longer entertain anyone from WCC whining about the size of the state appropriation.
If WCC wants to assist non-resident students with their attendance costs, they should develop financial aid packages and scholarship programs to help these students close the gap. They should not offer reduced tuition to anyone living outside the district boundaries.
Photo Credit: George Carter , via Flickr
