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Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, questions Gov. John Kitzhaber while Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, listens at a committee hearing on a proposal to develop a plan for offering free community college tuition to qualified students.

(Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

Smart consumers know to exercise caution and check the fine print when someone offers them a product for free. The Oregon Legislature and Higher Education Coordinating Commission should keep those principles in mind as they study the possibility of free tuition at Oregon community colleges.

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Oregon is one of three states — Mississippi and Tennessee are the others — currently considering proposals to offer free community college classes to at least some students. While Oregon is only seeking to authorize the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to study the topic, Tennessee and Mississippi have more fully developed their proposals. Each state's approach offers something for Oregon to consider.

The Tennessee plan, floated by Gov. Bill Haslam, would require students to take at least 12 credit hours per semester, maintain a 2.0 GPA and complete eight hours of community service per semester. It also would be limited to two years, and Haslam wants to assemble a corps of 5,000 volunteer mentors to help the students succeed. Details aside (the GPA requirement should be higher), this proposal contains two important principles: Students should be expected to show commitment and potential for success to continue receiving free tuition, and the state needs to make every effort to help them succeed.

The most appealing part of the Mississippi plan, which requires students to maintain a 2.5 GPA and has been approved by a House committee, is its effort to contain costs. Mississippi proposes to cover tuition expenses that are left after all other federal, state and institutional aid has been exhausted. Lawmakers peg the cost at less than $4.5 million per year, reported The Sun Herald of Biloxi.

Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, said he and other proponents of Senate Bill 1524 want "students to have some sort of responsibility," possibly including a co-pay. He and Gov. John Kitzhaber, who spoke at a hearing on the bill last week, also emphasized the importance of making sure the program complemented existing funding sources, such as Pell Grants, instead of replacing them. In his appearance, Kitzhaber ticked off a lengthy list of principles for legislators and educators to keep in mind as they work on a final plan. Among the most important: Design a program that is fiscally sustainable through economic and political changes; provide incentives for success; and make the program adaptable to local needs.

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All of the governor’s suggestions sound prudent, but the coordinating commission should start with something more basic: determining its primary goal. The most important goal should not be improving access; it should be increasing the number of students who complete associate degrees or technical programs. That’s an important, if subtle, distinction.

Without question, community colleges represent one of Oregon's most important assets as the state seeks to improve educational attainment and increase economic opportunities. Virtually everyone agrees that the "middle 40," those with a community college degree or technical certificate, will be the most difficult aspect of Oregon's 40-40-20 education goal to meet. Currently, more than 40 percent of Oregon high school graduates do not pursue further education the year after graduation. Combine that with the roughly 30 percent of Oregon students who do not graduate, and it's clear that something needs to be done to increase the number of students pursuing community college degrees.

But simply getting students inside the door will not be enough to ensure that they succeed, or enough to justify investing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into a free tuition program.

To design a program that will propel students toward degrees and jobs, the coordinating commission will have to do more than solve a financial equation. It must, like Tennessee, explore ways to help students succeed once they are in class. It also should consider requiring a co-pay, perhaps tied to need, and enacting GPA requirements to increase students’ motivation. Separately, the state will need to shore up job creation and placement programs to ensure that it doesn’t simply produce more well-educated baristas.

SB1524 should be approved, but it amounts to little more than a homework assignment. The final exam looms in the 2015 session, and legislators and the coordinating commission will need to work hard if they expect to pass it.