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Focus of state financial aid should be on
low-income students
By Rep. Larry Haler
The Washington
State Legislature is in the last week of the regular lawmaking session.
The budget proposals recently offered by the governor and leaders of the
House and Senate unfairly penalize low-income, private institution
students.
Our state has a
long commitment to help low-income students access higher education and
the state’s primary assistance, the State Need Grant, is available to
all students attending an accredited institution whether public or
private. Policymakers have historically respected the choice of
individuals about which school or program best serves their higher
education needs.
Under the budgets
currently being considered, the State Need Grant award for students
selecting private institutions will be lower than if those students
selected public institutions.
In these days of
cuts to higher education, the highest priority should be preserving
access for low-income students. I believe that the best assurance of
individual liberty and self sufficiency is a quality education.
The state’s
interest in financial aid is to help those less-fortunate to access the
higher education necessary to improve their situation, not to stimulate
the growth of public institutions. Lawmakers should not use financial
aid policy for other purposes.
When we face the
real prospect of public institutions being unable to serve all who
apply, why would we want to make it more difficult for low-income
students to access private colleges? To meet the demand for degree
production, we are going to need thriving public and private
institutions, or we run the risk of exporting our brightest students to
institutions elsewhere.
To stop this bad
precedent of making private institution students second-class citizens,
I am proposing an amendment to the state budget which would restore the
equal treatment for low-income students. The budget will be under
consideration for the next week, and I hope you will lend your support
to the adoption of the amendment to restore parity to private college
students.
For more
information about letting your thoughts be known, check out
http://www.leg.wa.gov/lic/hotline.htm or feel free to contact my
office at 360-786-7986.
(Rep. Larry
Haler, R-Richland, is the ranking Republican on the House Early Learning
and Children’s Services Committee. He also serves on the Education
Appropriations Committee and the Higher Education Committee.)
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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