Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Hoeven, Mathern propose help for college students

Hoeven, Mathern propose help for college students

Jul 26, 2008 - 04:07:13 CDT

By DALE WETZEL
Associated Press Writer

Republican Gov. John Hoeven wants to boost North Dakota's college student grants from $6 million to $40 million, while Democratic rival Tim Mathern is advocating a tuition refund plan for graduates who stay in the state.

The proposals signal that students' difficulty in paying rising college costs will be a prominent issue in this fall's campaign for governor and during the 2009 Legislature, said William Goetz, the chancellor of North Dakota's university system.

"I appreciate the elevation of this issue. I think it's critically important," Goetz said Friday. "I think it's time that there is a public-wide discussion about student affordability, about student assistance, and where the needs are not being met."

During events in Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck on Friday, Hoeven outlined a proposal to offer up to $2,000 annually in college grants for North Dakota undergraduates who meet the program's financial need guidelines.

North Dakota's university system, which includes 11 public colleges, already has a much smaller grant program. It benefits about 4,000 students, with a grant limit of $800. Hoeven believes his initiative would cover any student who qualifies, a number he estimated at 11,000 students.

Students attending North Dakota's public and private colleges would be eligible for aid. The program is reserved for graduates of North Dakota high schools or students whose families live in North Dakota.

Hoeven has dubbed the plan ACT-ND - the first three letters stand for Aid for College Tuition - and he believes it will help the state keep workers it needs to bolster a labor market that has thousands more jobs than employees.

The proposal "will help us recruit, educate and train the workers for our growing economy and our growing state," Hoeven said.

Mathern has offered a plan to gradually refund tuition payments to graduates of North Dakota's colleges for each year they live and work in North Dakota. A graduate who lives in the state for eight years would recoup his or her entire tuition expense, he said.

"We have to combine our support for students with the issue of the need for population, particularly young people," Mathern said. "The bottom line is, we need (North Dakota college graduates) to work here. We need them to start a life here."

Mathern estimated his proposal would need $11.1 million annually for tuition refunds, beginning in 2010. Its annual cost would rise gradually to $89 million over eight years, he said.

Profits that the Bank of North Dakota earns on student college loans would provide some of the financing for the initiative, he said.

Mathern said Friday that Hoeven's proposal did not provide "real relief for the rising cost of college," while the governor said voters rejected a ballot measure six years ago that was similar to Mathern's idea. The initiative offered income tax credits and student loan repayments to new college graduates who remained in North Dakota to live and work.

Students who attended Hoeven's campaign news conference Friday at the Bismarck State College student union said they welcomed attempts to stem rising college costs and the debt loads that graduates carry.

"If we receive this financial aid, it will basically enable us to stay focused on our school, more so that worrying about jobs, worrying about where money is going to come from," said Bryce Loehrke, 20, a BSC student from New Salem.

Loehrke said he hoped to study veterinary medicine, and a smaller debt from college undergraduate studies will mean less stress as his education continues, he said.

"As living costs are going up, as college tuition is going up in cost, we don't have to think about our finances as much," Loehrke said. "We don't have to worry about it. We don't have to wonder, how many years of college debt am I going to be in?"

News > State

Printer friendly version Hoeven, Mathern propose help for college students

Comments

mat wrote on Jul 27, 2008 10:38 AM:

" Although I agree with most of you that less govt is better. I think that we are missing one of the points here. If we can keep more wokrers in ND, they will spend money here and pay taxes here. I think we should take a step back and approach some of these ideas as a "pkoy" to keep our students and workers here in ND. In my opinion, ND has some of the hardest working people around. I would just assume they stay and contribute to an ND ecomony instead of going elsewhere "

Halatbis wrote on Jul 26, 2008 10:35 PM:

" Once again the political mindset is at work; rather than address the rising (out of control) tuition cost for students at State higher education institutions, the problem is ignored. The easy fix is to give money to students to pay the outrageous tuitions--the students will be grateful because government is caring for them--maybe even vote for the pols that "give them money". The Higher Education folks are happy because their ploy worked once again--raise tuition every year and the gov't will kick in money--it will work every time. "

UffDa wrote on Jul 26, 2008 5:15 PM:

" Just keep spending, governor and legislature. Be sure to squander every dollar of the Billion plus surplus. Then, wait for the boom to stop and decide if you'll kill off any of these bureaucratic boondoggles or raise taxes to pay for them instead. 1980s again, anyone?!

Stop them before they begin: vote YES for the income tax cut this November. Keep the money out of greedy government's hands. "

Snap wrote on Jul 26, 2008 4:15 PM:

" Tell you what, on these posts if there's an article about native Americans receiveing government money folks go nuts and claim that government handouts keeps them down and make them lazy. How is this different? If you give a kid money he or she is more likely to skip class and not do homework, after all, who cares? I didn't pay for it. I say no to this idea. Let them whippersnappers take out loans that they have to pay back. When you pay for something yourself you care a lot more. And if the state coffers are so full, why don't they send me a refund check instead of helping out kids? "

Trying Again wrote on Jul 26, 2008 3:24 PM:

" They tried this a few years ago about givining money back to students and it failed then and will fail again. If they try to do this again there should be no restrictions on the age of a student. Last time there was a age limit and a lot of the students going to college were older than average, like myself, who didn't qualify for the refund. It should be fair accross the board no matter how old you are. "

mat wrote on Jul 26, 2008 2:21 PM:

" I like that there are ideas (even if they are re-hashed) about solving a growing problem. I just want to play devils advocate and ask: If in 8 yrs your tuition is forgiven (mathern plan) then there is less revenue to the Bank of ND (from student loan payment). How are we going to come up with the 89 million if we use figures that will dwindle with less payments being made.

Just curious!! "

topher wrote on Jul 26, 2008 12:19 PM:

" Well, put "student". I could not agree with you anymore. You know as well as I do, we live in a world of people you have an ENTITLEMENT mentality. These are the types of things they want to here, and don't really want to know whats behind it or how it actually works. I'm with you forget the gimmicks, people need to wake up. "

DoTheMath wrote on Jul 26, 2008 11:58 AM:

" Since when on the Good Lord's green earth does something "gradually rise" when it goes from $11.1mio to $89mio in a mere 8 years? If only the stock market could 'gradually rise' like that... "

Student wrote on Jul 26, 2008 8:12 AM:

" Helping state residents further their education is an excellent idea. However, trying to hold people hostage in North Dakota by paying off their student loans if they stay has been tried in various forms and doesn't work. It misses the whole point of the matter. If someone is staying in the state only because they are getting their loan paid down, there are other factors that need to be addressed first. Add to that the whole new layer of bureauracracy (the last thing we need in North Dakota!) that would need to be put in place to try to monitor where people are and who qualifies for what and you have a program based on an unsound idea that just added more to the cost of goverment.

It's an idea that always sounds good on the campaign trail. Which is why it gets pulled out every few years and has the moths shaken off of it. Provide basic tuition relief to North Dakota residents and tax relief to the people of the state. That's a fine place to start! Forget the gimmicks. "

Question wrote on Jul 26, 2008 6:57 AM:

" Ten yrs ago I went to a private school in Minnesota, because no ND school offered the program I wanted to major in. I came straight back to ND after graduation, and have been working here ever since. I still owe thousands of dollars. Sounds like neither of the candidates' plans would do anything for me. Sounds great going forward... maybe in 10 yrs my kids will benefit from this... "

Post Your Own Comment

All online comments are limited to 350 words total.
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.