The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
UConn’s free tuition offer a fine first step toward equity
Climbing the economic ladder and breaking out of poverty or even the middle class requires tenacity, grit, skill and unfortunately often lots of expensive education.
It shouldn’t require any of that. Really, we should all be given a fair chance at success and have access to satisfy all of our basic needs. If we ever approach that alternate reality, it won’t be for quite some time. In the meantime, the University of Connecticut has devised a plan to level the playing field. But it may not go far enough to perfect the game for everyone.
UConn plans to offer free tuition to instate students from families with an annual household income of $50,000 or less. I applaud the effort and I know tons of families throughout the state will benefit in immeasurable ways.
The only thing is, it doesn’t go far enough to help students out of poverty, to support families in getting their kids through college — the cost of room, food and textbooks adds up — and it does nothing to bolster the shrinking middle class.
But what’s the alternative? While $50k is too low to make a sustainable impact, but giving credit where credit is due — it’s a good start when you consider the current options on the table for lowincome families.
Quinnipiac University, my alma mater, recently announced its plans to partner with two community colleges to ensure students can seamlessly transfer to the private university. They are not offering free tuition, but the gesture of nearguaranteed admission to a renowned university with internship and networking opportunities is worth its weight in gold.
Quinnipiac and its $526.6 million endowment can afford to offer substantial financial aid packages to offset the need from lowincome families. And while UConn’s endowment isn’t too far off at $447.7 million, offering 100 percent free tuition is inarguably better.
Students who graduate from UConn after taking advantage of this benefit will get a boost in life incomparable to anything currently offered in the state. They won’t be tethered to a hefty student loan payment for basically the rest of forever and their earning capacity will far surpass their family’s current means.
Over the coming years, I look forward to seeing UConn adjust this figure to reflect the circumstances of working families throughout the state. Families of four, making $50k or less, means that by the time those students become college age that family has had to make sacrifice upon sacrifice to make ends meet. A salary that low means a married family in Connecticut will be netting $3,207 a month before health care, housing, and any other bills required to keep a home and feed a family.
UConn is the first of the state’s public schools to offer this benefit to Connecticut’s neediest families. And ideally, the next phase of equity in higher education will include a full implementation of this benefit at all the state’s schools.
I’m guilty of having a fast trigger finger. I frequently see how people will be negatively impacted by systemic changes and I often want to see progress occur much faster then it’s used to. To some degree, I did that with this news.
After the UConn announcement, I scrolled through my Facebook timeline to assess the reactions and one, in particular, stood out to me. A recently married friend with two kids posted: “How nice! I guess I’m quitting my job and getting a divorce so my kids can have free education.” Because really, that just might be what it would take for most workingclass families to take advantage of this benefit.
Sure, $50,000 is a figure recognized as under the Federal Poverty Line for a family of eight, so there is merit in selecting that threshold. But I think it’s safe to say that figure deeply underestimates the plight of families fending off poverty but making more than $50k a year.
Students from families making less than that threshold may have already led lives so heavily affected by systemic pressures that college might understandably not be in their future. That combined with how easy it is for a married family to exceed $50k makes me interested in seeing the first year’s data on how many students will apply to the program.
Progress, even the incremental kind, is helpful. But justice seekers need to hold state leaders accountable for continued, and even accelerated, progress. UConn is a prime example of what the first steps toward equity feel and look like.
Unfortunately, the feeling that this is too little won’t dissipate until we see substantial investment to equalize access to education for all students. But starting with the neediest among us is a fine first step.