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Gov. John Kitzhaber testifies in support of a bill to study free community college tuition for Oregon high school graduates, while Sens. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, and Jeff Kruse, Roseburg listen on. The bill moved out of the Senate Education Committee and is headed to the floor for a vote.

(Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

SALEM – One of the first bills to grab traction at the Legislature aims to give all Oregon high school graduates a free two years at a community college if they want it.

The Senate Education Committee gave thumbs up to Senate Bill 1524, which requires the Higher Education Coordinating Committee to study the idea and report back later this year. That could set up a potential up or down vote on the proposal in the 2015 legislative session.

The bill now goes to the Senate floor.

Supporters, including Gov. John Kitzhaber, hailed the proposal as a groundbreaking way to ensure more Oregonians go to college and to reduce the increasingly weighty debt load students take on.

It would cost between $100 million and $200 million to cover the two-year cost of community college tuition for the 32,000 student who get high school diplomas each year, said Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, chair of the committee and champion of the bill.

"One figure that keeps popping up in my mind is student debt," estimated at $1 trillion nationally, Hass said. "Of all the families who owe credit card debt, students owe more than that."

Hass also noted that the cost of community college is much less than a lifetime on food stamps.

The governor's support came with a number of caveats.

"I'd suggest it's an excellent idea but not without it's complexities or potential pitfalls," Kitzhaber told the committee. He suggested creating incentives – such as good grades – for students to qualify, and other safeguards to ensure the money is spent wisely.

Kitzhaber said free tuition could stem the "staggering" debt students accumulated, but he also questioned whether the money would be better spent beefing up Oregon Opportunity Grants, which provide need-based scholarships.

Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, a member of the committee, suggested that rather than offer free tuition up front, the state promise to reimburse high school grads after they complete their first term or first year of community college. Otherwise, he said, some students wouldn't take their classes seriously and would go only because it's free.

Duncan Wyse, a member of the Higher Education Coordinating Committee, said he welcomed the chance to study the bill's concepts. If eventually approved, such a plan would send a message of hope to the state's low-income students, he said.

"If you achieve a high school diploma, we ought to be be able to say to every student in Oregon, you will be able to go on and pursue a four-year degree," Wyse said.

A related effort, House Bill 4116, would require the higher education committee and the Department of Community College and Workforce Development to set up a grant program to help low-income, underserved and first-generation high school graduates pay for community college. It is scheduled for a hearing on Friday.

-- Harry Esteve