From Lori Randolph in Salem:
The cost of a public post-secondary education in Oregon is prohibitive to many hard-working middle class families. I believe Oregon high school students should be entitled to an undergraduate degree, tuition free, at any one of Oregon's public universities. In exch... more
From Lori Randolph in Salem:
The cost of a public post-secondary education in Oregon is prohibitive to many hard-working middle class families. I believe Oregon high school students should be entitled to an undergraduate degree, tuition free, at any one of Oregon's public universities. In exchange for a free post-secondary education, these students could be required to fulfill a public service role in some capacity, either during or for a period following their graduation. In order to qualify for free tuition, they may be required to graduate from high school with a pre-determined minimum GPA. Perhaps there could be special incentives for certain majors where it would be advantageous to keep those individuals working in state after graduation. I do believe the best way to keep the economy of Oregon stable is to ensure we have a highly educated population.
RJ
I like the idea as well, however with the current budget crisis we are going through and shortened school years, I don't see how this could possibly be funded.
Juniper Bartlett
Check out my idea to restructure the grade levels so that HS students graduate with a two year degree, AA or AS.
AZehav
Expensive at first blush, but if you factor in the real costs of an undereducated population, it starts looking more economical. All of the Europeans I know went to college for free, so it must be doable.
James Mazzocco
Kari, you're on the right track, though I'd say a smart guy with priors needs college more than a smart guy without!
Dave Porter
I'd prefer a scholarship program good at any Oregon higher ed institution, public or private, or any online higher ed program so long as the student continues to reside in Oregon.
Molly Knott
I support this idea and agree with Kari's comments. However I think it is also critical to tie greater access to higher education to better high school guidance programs so that students entering undergraduate programs can be educated and explore with a sense of purpose and goals in mind.
Kari Chisholm
I like this idea a lot. Of course, to make it palatable to Oregon voters, you'd probably want to use the program as an incentive for good grades (3.0 or better?) and staying out of trouble. (No criminal convictions, etc.) This is much like Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program. It helps keep our best students here at home (which is critical for economic development, since the vast majority of college students settle down permanently within 500 miles of where they went to school.)