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December 2008
Should black, white colleges merge?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, state Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland) thinks he’s found a way to save money: Consolidate some public colleges.
Harp’s proposal does more than just chafe against the usual sentimental attachments to familiar institutions. It also touches the raw nerve of race. Given the suspicions that linger on both sides of the color line, his plan— which suggests merging two historically black colleges with two traditionally white schools — is sure to spark drawn-out debate, fevered protests and intemperate accusations.
No matter. Harp has the right idea: There is no good reason to maintain separate but equal public facilities in close proximity. Following that reasoning, he has asked the University System to consider consolidating historically black Savannah State University with nearby Armstrong Atlantic State University and historically black Albany State University with Darton College, a two-year institution in Albany.
Already, the suggestion has drawn criticism. State Sen. Vincent Fort, (D-Atlanta), a college lecturer, dismissed it as “a bad idea.” A similar proposal died a quick death 25 years ago, after then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris proposed merging black and white colleges to speed up court-ordered desegregation. But now that dire economic circumstances have forced the idea back onto the table, let’s not let this crisis go to waste. Use the opportunity to remove the last vestiges of Jim Crow from the University System.
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Should HOPE be need-based?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most HOPE Scholarship recipients in Georgia were college-bound from the cradle. The question was never whether they would go to college, but where.
Because of the generosity of HOPE, which covers tuition and a portion of books and fees at the state’s public institutions, many now choose schools such as the University of Georgia, Georgia College and State University and Georgia Tech rather than a private campus. The rush toward public campuses will be even more pronounced this year as families confront shrunken college funds in the wake of the economic downturn.
Many parents who assumed their bright 18-year-olds would end up at prestigious and more expensive out-of-state private schools are now waxing poetic about the charms of downtown Athens or historic Milledgeville. Nationwide, public colleges and universities are seeing record applications as worried families recoil from $40,000-a-year private school tuitions.
Whenever my high school senior mentions Columbia University and the excitement of going to college in New York City, I begin ticking off all the things I couldn’t afford when I attended grad school there, including food. Wouldn’t it be great, I tell him, to join his older sister at UGA and occasionally be able to splurge on a pizza? As a middle-class parent, I’m delighted that HOPE has reduced the basic college tab of my daughter to about $10,000 a year, the cost of room and board at UGA. But on a public policy level, I wonder if it’s the best use of scarce state resources.
A Harvard study found that only 4 percent of the money spent on HOPE went to students who might not otherwise have gone to college. Would the state net more from its investment if it instead targeted HOPE to needy students for whom the money plays a decisive role in whether they go to college?
Even without HOPE, my daughter would be in college today. Our household would assume more loans, see fewer movies and eat less take-out. If necessary, we’d borrow from our retirement funds. Somehow, we’d pull it off.
Those who support leaving HOPE merit-based argue that the scholarship only demands that high school students have a 3.0 grade point average. A 3.0 isn’t an extremely high standard for students to achieve, they say.
However, it’s a high enough threshold to shut out a lot of poor urban and rural kids. For these students, higher education was always an aspiration rather than an assumption. Many have as much potential as middle-class kids; they just lack the same opportunities. Yes, those students could resort to loans, but it’s hard to persuade children who grew up in families with an annual income of $30,000 that it’s a good idea to strap on a debt load that exceeds their households’ yearly earnings.
Two weeks ago, the Kentucky state auditor advised a panel studying college affordability that it ought to reconsider the state’s merit-based college scholarship program in view of the budget crisis. It may be wiser, the auditor suggested, to channel the funds to need-based recipients. The essential question for states is whether there’s enough of a payoff to justify funding the college education of the children of cardiologists and CEOs. Would states experience a greater return if they directed limited scholarships to kids who wouldn’t go to college otherwise?
And while some argue that not everyone needs a college degree, the data indicate that the benefits of higher education extend beyond the individual to the community and state as a whole. In the next 10 years, high-skill jobs requiring postsecondary education will comprise almost half of the country’s job growth.
On average, college graduates earn 70 percent more per year than high school grads and are more likely to receive health and retirement benefits at their jobs. They live longer and healthier. They pay more taxes and use fewer government services. They commit fewer crimes and spend more money. They contribute more to charity and volunteer more.
On a personal level, I prefer that HOPE remain untouched. The increased competition for spots at UGA and other campuses has led to more rigorous high school courses and prompted students, including my own kids, to work harder. Now I can pay for college for my four children without selling a kidney.
However, on a public policy level, I can’t help but believe that HOPE provides the greatest advantages to the kids already born with them.
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