TRENTON – Funding higher education in New Jersey is drawing more legislative attention.
Third District Democrats Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assemblywoman Celeste M. Riley announced Tuesday they would introduce legislation this fall that would create a Higher Education Tuition Study Commission to evaluate the benefits of a so-called “Pay Forward, Pay Back” system.
In such programs, students pay back a percentage of their income upon graduation for a certain number of years. In exchange, they are not charged traditional tuition at public institutions.
Under the proposal, a seven-member commission would be established to study such a plan.
“Any options that may help ease the burden of college expenses on New Jersey families and allow more students to pursue college aspirations are worth exploring,” Sweeney said in a release.
Riley said that “Many college students are working full-time, or multiple jobs, to pay for their college education, and yet a mountain of debt still awaits them upon graduation. Our students deserve the opportunity to earn a college degree without distraction or worry of how they will pay for it.”
Similar legislation was approved in June by the legislature in Oregon, and comparable concepts are under consideration in Wisconsin and Colorado, according to Sweeney and Riley.
On Thursday, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hear the merits of another higher-education funding-related bill that would set up a 10-member commission to study how other states fund higher education and recommend options for New Jersey to consider.
These measures are drawing attention in light of New Jersey losing top students and faculty to out-of-state schools that have more modern infrastructure coupled with the high cost of attending college. Last November, voters OK’d the first infrastructure bond program in years so New Jersey’s public colleges and universities could build new classrooms.
“A dedicated panel charged with the duty of examining alternative tuition and funding options would help us determine whether programs such as ‘Pay Forward, Pay Back’ are more effective than our current system,” Sweeney said.
The seven-member panel would include the secretary of Higher Education. Three other members would be named by the governor and would be presidents of a county college, a state college, and a research university.
The other three would be named by the Senate president, Assembly speaker, and one person jointly named by the chambers’ minority leaders.
