A recent push for the Michigan 2020 Plan by state democrats in both the House and Senate would provide a grant for all high school graduates in the state that would cover higher educational expenses for any of Michigan’s public universities.

Senate minority leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) recently called for legislators to revisit the plan, which was first developed last year.

“This morning, we heard from economists and business experts, elected officials, educators, parents and students on the Michigan 2020 Plan and what it could do to help our families, businesses and communities,” Whitmer said in a recent press release. “They couldn’t understand why any Michigan elected officials would be opposed to this plan, and quite frankly, it’s time for the Senate to start moving this process forward.”

THE PLAN

The Michigan 2020 Plan would provide a grant for all high school graduates in the state, regardless of whether they were home schooled or attended a public or private school. The grant would be available for four years, and its maximum amount would be equal to the median tuition level of all public universities in Michigan — currently just over $10,500.

Students could then use that money to cover their educational expenses at any public university or community college in Michigan.

“The 2020 Plan is designed to change who pays for college – taxpayers instead of students and their families,” said Matt McLogan, vice president for university relations at Grand Valley State University.

Democrats claim the plan would be funded entirely by closing tax loopholes and would not raise taxes a cent. According to the Michigan 2020 website, Michigan grants $35 billion in tax credits that have not been proven to be effective in growing the economy or job market.

The proposed legislation would create a nonpartisan commission to cut 10 percent of those tax credit expenditures, which would be more than enough to fund the proposed $1.8 billion plan.

SKEPTICS & TRUE BELIEVERS

Rep. Roger Victory (R-Hudsonville) said his main concern with the plan is funding and sustainability.

“While the proponents of the plan say that this will not require additional taxes, there are no concrete identified sources of revenue,” Victory said. “With an estimated $1.8 billion per year price tag, no identified funding source seems like a major issue.”

Robert McCann, communications officer for the Senate democrats, said there has purposely been no specifics given about which loopholes would be closed because they don’t want the issue to become political.

“(Those tax credits) are not creating jobs, not growing the economy (and) not helping Michigan families,” McCann said. “When we’re talking about this plan we’re not just talking about making college affordable, we’re talking about creating jobs.”

McCann said legislators have worked with economists on an approach to job creation.

“I think when we talk to economists on how to best bring jobs to Michigan, they say it’s about creating a talent pool of higher concentrations of college graduates,” he said.

The plan may provide Michigan with more college graduates, but Victory says it’s impossible to say whether that will actually help keep graduates in the state.

“In my review of the plan there is not, and can’t be, a requirement that a graduate under this program must stay in the state,” Victory said. “As with any other individual, they will go where the jobs are located so they can provide for their families. If there are no jobs in Michigan then these educated students will leave to be able to provide for themselves.”

Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids), who has sponsored bills within the plan, said it is an important proposal as affording college is becoming a growing problem for many individuals.

“I think it has the potential to, first of all, make college affordable for people,” Dillon said. “To allow people who want to go to college who would not have been able to because they can’t afford it.”

Dillon said he also thinks the plan could encourage people to stay in high school by giving them the opportunity to afford higher education. “I think what you’ve seen with things like the Kalamazoo Promise is it’s kept people in school and kept them from dropping out,” he said.

Though there are many problems unrelated to college affordability that cause students to drop out of high school, Victory said it would be difficult to determine if this plan would have any effect on high school retention rates.

“This program does not provide additional resources to our K-12 schools to work on this issue,” Victory said. “While the program will provide an incentive to some students, it could be very possible that these very students were the ones that would have found a way to attend college anyway.”

McLogan said he expects the number of college applicants to increase if the Michigan 2020 Plan passes.

“If college were to become free to Michigan high school graduates, my assumption is that applications to college would increase substantially,” McLogan said. “This would be a good thing, but it might well lead to additional operating and classroom construction expenses for colleges and universities. I’d expect the institutions to ask the state for assistance in meeting the costs of the additional demand that the state’s new policy would have created.”

Dillon said the issue of institutions asking for financial assistance because of increased applicants is a positive thing.

“If we have so many students that can afford to go to college, it would be a good problem for us to have to accommodate them,” he said. “Having more students being able to afford to go to college, no matter where they choose to go, would be a good thing.”

McCann said as more individuals are given access to higher education by making it more affordable, it would keep the universities’ costs down overall, as most of the money universities receive comes from tuition.

Victory said community colleges and universities get support from the state through the capital outlay process for construction costs on a variety of projects.

“(The plan) may increase the number of projects that institutions ask for, but not necessarily how many are approved,” he said.

McCann doesn’t expect the plan to have any effect on institutions with lower tuition rates as some students will choose to have their college expenses paid for entirely by the grant, and Victory agrees.

“We may see students choose colleges or universities that they normally would not have, up to the maximum grant amount,” Victory said. “Students, though, would still have to be accepted to the institution and the grant would not guarantee that. Because the plan has a set tuition amount for students, they would still have to pay any difference above the grant.”

The Michigan 2020 Plan has yet to be voted on, and there is speculation that if it were, the bill may encounter Republican opposition.

“Given that there are Republican legislators who have not been supportive of this bill, in this session, I think it’s probably not going to (pass),” Dillon said.

Victory agrees and said the plan would be hard to pass without an identified funding source. “The plan relies on appointed boards to find savings in the budget, but we have no way of knowing if that is possible or if the legislature would implement them,” he said.

The plan has heard criticisms over the encompassing changes it would make to tax credits in a state that still has a shaky economy, but McCann continues to have hope.

“Isn’t it about time that the legislation is able to make big plans like this?” McCann said. “Obviously the Republicans still control the agenda, but we’ve been hearing from both sides of the aisle that this plan makes sense.”

For more information on the Michigan 2020 Plan, visit www.michigan2020.com
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