Pawlenty proposes free tuition for state's top students

Guess who is running for re-election? Mr. "No New Taxes, I call them Fees, instead" expects us to believe this BS. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see this happen as I have nephews and a niece who this could help. But there is absolutely no way that he is going to come up with funding for this. If (perish the thought) he does win re-election, he will certainly flip-flop and say that the state just can't afford it.


http://www.startribune.com/587/story/518389.html

Students who graduate in the top 25 percent of their high school class would attend two years at public Minnesota universities for free, under governor's proposal.

Pawlenty, a Republican seeking re-election, denied introducing the proposals for political reasons. His main DFL foe, Attorney General Mike Hatch, has hit him hardest on his commitment to keeping higher education accessible and affordable.

Pawlenty said the program will be part of his next budget proposal if he wins a second term in November.

It would cost the state $112 million in its first two years and would kick in for the 2007 fall semester. The governor didn't identify a funding source but said it should be easy to find the money in a budget that now exceeds $30 billion every two years.

Sheesh. "If you vote for me, I will do this" -- and then make a quaint excuse when it comes time to pony up.

universities for free under the postsecondary program. By that I mean - maybe he's making a promise that is basically already being fulfilled. Sounds good, but requires no significant new money from the state.

eta: This link below says 7000 students participated last year. Pawlenty says up to 16,000 students would be eligible for his new program. By my count, that's a maximum increase of 9,000 students. And how many of these will actually stay in state? Many are no doubt headed for some private university/college no matter what Minnesota says. I don't think this is a big ticket item for Pawlenty, despite what it sounds like. It would be great to retain even more top students, of course. I don't see this as being all that expensive in the long run. They are already paying for half of it, since many PSEO students get 2 yrs+ credit this way anyway.

http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/School_Choice/Post_Secondary_Enrollment_Options_PSEO/

But catering to smart people is always a losing move for republicans. Try the bottom 25 and he might find pawlenty of takers.

N/T

K-12 education budget that MN is now ranked 26th in dollars spent per K-12 pupil. MN has had a fantastic education system in the past, which accounts for its strong economy and well-educated populace, but these cuts in the K-12 budget are going to destroy that.

It's pointless to be sending people to the university who aren't well prepared for it - even the top 25% are going to be less prepared than they were 15-20 years ago if the cuts are not reversed.