Plan would be among first in the nation to provide free tuition to students attending any of its public colleges, regardless of family income

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — All Rhode Island students in good academic standing would qualify for two years of free tuition at any of the state’s public colleges under a plan Gov. Gina Raimondo will present this week to the General Assembly as part of her fiscal 2018 budget.

Although a handful of other states, including Tennessee and Oregon, offer their resident students free tuition at certain of their colleges — community and technology schools, for example — Raimondo’s plan would be among the first in the nation to provide free tuition to students attending any of its public colleges, regardless of family income. Georgia has had a similar program for several years and New York is considering one.

“I want the people of Rhode Island to have a chance,” the governor told The Providence Journal. “It’s also time to give middle-class families a break. Everybody is stressed about how they are going to pay for college. We have the money. This is affordable. It’s a smart solution.”

“This initiative will set our state apart as having a skilled workforce that can meet the demands of the 21st economy,” said Barbara S. Cottam, chair of the state Board of Education. “It will also signal to our students that they will have the chance to achieve their dreams.”

The annual cost of the program would be $30 million once fully phased in, Raimondo said.

Reached on Sunday, Rhode Island Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed said she supports Raimondo’s proposal to provide free tuition to Rhode Island students in good academic standing.

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” she said Sunday. “It’s what we have been saying for years — that a high school education is no longer sufficient to secure a job ... Additional training is necessary whether it’s training as a CNA [certified nursing assistant] or in the manufacturing field. This will provide all Rhode Islanders with that opportunity.”

Asked how the state will pay for free college tuition, Paiva Weed said it would most likely be phased in over a four-year period, adding that Raimondo will provide more details on Monday.

Raimondo said that House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, who could not be reached for comment Sunday, had a "positive" initial reaction to the proposal when briefed.

Called the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship, the program would benefit students at the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island.

Students entering CCRI after graduating from high school would be eligible for two years of free tuition and waived mandatory fees, meaning they could earn an associate’s degree essentially without cost. Students at RIC and URI, four-year institutions, would be eligible for similar assistance during their junior and senior years, making their last two years essentially free. Room and board would not be covered for students living on campus.

The program would encourage URI and RIC undergraduates to persevere in their studies until they earned their degrees, the governor asserted. The on-time graduation rate at URI is only 49 percent — and just 14 percent at RIC.

Concern about debt discourages many students from graduating on schedule — or at all — in Rhode Island and nationally.

According to a study last year by LendEDU, a private group, recent RIC graduates left school with an average of $26,624 in loan debt, with URI graduates burdened by an average of $32,587. When all of the state’s public and private colleges were included, Rhode Island had the second-highest loan debt of any state. Only Connecticut was higher.

“A lot of people drop out because of affordability,” the governor said. “If you’re going to RIC and you’re a student and you’re working two or three jobs, it gets really hard. It’s hard to stay at it and it’s hard to graduate. What we’re saying is: You go for the two years and we’ll take care of the next two years.

“And I think we’re going to see graduation rates go way up and [graduates] are not going to come out burdened with debt. That’s what we have now: Students go, and they come out with no degree and a boatload of debt. That’s not a good equation.”

Raimondo told The Journal that the program would also enhance efforts to grow Rhode Island’s economy.

“In 1980, when I was a kid, most jobs in Rhode Island did not require a degree past high school,” she said. “Now, most good jobs do require something past high school.”

The governor predicted the state’s businesses would welcome the program.

“Almost every day, I hear from businesses that their number-one concern is finding a skilled workforce. And so my message to these businesses, large and small, is ‘we hear you and we're going to send you our best and brightest by making college affordable.’ ”

Among the provisions of the Promise Scholarship program:

— Open to all resident students who enroll at a state college within six months of graduating high school or earning a GED prior to reaching the age of 19. Public, private and home-schooled graduates would all be eligible.

— One scholarship per person. A student receiving assistance while at CCRI would not be eligible again after transferring to URI or RIC.

— Students would have to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Federal Pell Grants and other such financial aid would be factored into the free-tuition calculation, lowering the state’s contribution.

— Students would be required to remain in good academic standing, with at least a 2.0 GPA.

— RIC and URI juniors and seniors would be required to have completed their sophomore year, having earned 60 credits and declared a major.

— The program would cost $10 million in fiscal year 2018, $13 million in 2019, $18 million in 2020, with a projected annual cost of $30 million in 2021, when members of high school classes of 2017 will be seniors in college.

Beginning this fall, tuition and mandatory fees are $4,564 at CCRI, $8,776 at RIC and $13,792 at URI. According to data cited by Raimondo’s deputy chief of staff Kevin Gallagher, all Rhode Island high schools graduate a total of roughly 12,000 students every year.

Journal readers responded positively to an on-line poll Sunday afternoon, with 68 percent of participants in favor of the free tuition plan and 32 percent against it. On the Journal's Facebook page, however, readers were much more critical, asking why taxpayers should foot the bill for other people's children and questioning where the money would come from for such a program.

And on Monday, local and national groups weighed in with praise and caution.

Meanwhile, the state launched a Rhode Island's Promise site, which explains the proposal in detail with a list of FAQs and more.

The presidents of the state’s three public colleges all applauded the governor’s initiative.

“We know that our students face significant financial challenges that can stall or even stop their progress,” CCRI president Meghan Hughes said. The Promise Scholarship “increases their ability to persist, complete their associate degrees and certificate programs, and pursue a bachelor’s degree and high-quality careers right here in Rhode Island.”

RIC’s Frank D. Sanchez said the proposal would “increase access to a college education for Rhode Islanders, providing greater social mobility for all students and, in turn, help to drive our state’s economy. We wholeheartedly support any effort to expand access to postsecondary education and fill the gap many students face when trying to afford tuition.”

URI president David M. Dooley called the proposal “truly innovative, in that it is designed to accelerate the number of students completing degree programs while also significantly cutting the cost of their education. As I promote the University of Rhode Island and the state around the globe, I am confident the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship will be the program that distinguishes our state as an education leader committed to the success of its entire citizenry.”

Said Raimondo: “It puts us on the map in whole new way. How can we not do it? It’s a tiny investment for a huge reward. And it’s the right thing to do for the people of Rhode Island. In a $9-billion budget, it’s a drop in the budget.”

Journal Staff Writer Linda Borg contributed to this story.

—gwmiller@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @GWayneMiller