Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in columns and letters are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily or organizations with which the author(s) are associated. 

I’m confused. The three Iowa public university presidents just proposed a whopping 35 percent increase in tuition over the next five years. We’ve also heard how student debt is escalating and the cost of a college education is becoming more and more out of reach for many.

So, the way to reduce the rising student debt is to substantially raise tuition. You might see why I’m confused.

The Kalamazoo Promise

My hometown, Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a promise. That is a “Kalamazoo Promise.” It all began in November 2005, when the superintendent of the Kalamazoo Public Schools announced that a group of private anonymous donors had pledged to pay the cost of tuition to any one of Michigan’s public universities and a number of private colleges if you attend the Kalamazoo Public Schools from Kindergarten through the 12^th grade. That’s right – a tuition free college or university education for attending the Kalamazoo Public Schools. There are other requirements of course. For example, at a minimum you must attend all four years of your high school education at one of the two Kalamazoo Public High Schools. Even at that, you get 65 percent of your tuition paid.

Kalamazoo, Michigan is a town of about 80,000 and, like other urban cities, struggles with many of the same issues that a Des Moines or Waterloo struggle with. The Kalamazoo Public Schools, with a student enrollment of more than 12,000, are like any other urban district – 39 percent white, 44 percent African-American, and one-third of its students below the national poverty level. Since the announcement, the enrollment of the Kalamazoo Public School District has grown by 2,450 students, or 24 percent. The number of minority students taking AP courses is up 300 percent; test scores and student GPA are up – and it goes on.

Moving from a “Public Good” to a “Private Good”

It’s no secret about the exploding cost of a college education and the mountain of debt students end up with upon graduation. Over the last 30 years, the cost of higher education has increased by 1,200 percent, or four times the rate of inflation. If it were a gallon of milk, the cost today would be approximately $16. 

Students in Iowa rank in the top five percent for having the highest student loan debt when they graduate, with an average debt exceeding $30,000. Today, 58 percent of student aid is in the form of loans and 42 percent in grant funding. This is reversed from 30 years ago.

In the past, state allocations covered approximately two-thirds the cost of a student’s higher education. Today, that’s about one-third and dropping. And as for the federal government, let’s just say that over the past 30 years they have been decreasing their financial commitment to a student’s higher education at the same time they have been cutting taxes. 

An Iowa Promise – It’s Time for the Private Sector to Step In and the State to Step Back Up

We need an “Iowa Promise.” With disinvestment from the state and federal governments and skyrocketing costs, we are pricing college out of the reach of more and more middle income and poor families. The colleges and universities can build all the new fancy recreation centers, posh dormitories and install new jumbo scoreboards, but there comes a tipping point where it becomes unaffordable to most. How many best and brightest or just plain hard-working and motivated students will we lose because they simply can’t afford to attend? How many students are dropping out of college because they simply ran out of money? More than you think; just ask those who have dropped out. And what are the economic ramifications? Can a college graduate afford to purchase a house or risk starting a business with $30,000 in college debt?

In the past, the Board of Regents has proposed freezing tuition if the state legislature provided additional funding. This isn’t bold enough and doesn’t go far enough in addressing the issue. It’s not about freezing, it’s about reducing.

Former Iowa State University President Steven Leath has said he wanted to make the university a national leader in reducing student debt. Mr. President, how about an “Iowa Promise” where a student pays one third of the cost, the state covers one third, and the “Iowa Promise” pays the last third? Former President Leath proposed raising $1 billion for ISU. That’s a bold and ambitious goal. He’s talked about new buildings and more faculty research dollars. How about the top priority being an “ISU Promise” for all ISU students that reduces tuition, fees and other related costs? If ISU is going to be bold in how much it is going to raise, they should also be bold in how it will be used. Now that’s the kind of goal that will get the attention of future students and their parents. 

It’s not a Kalamazoo Promise, but it’s a good start. 

We’ve Done It Before 

After World War II, returning veterans went to college on the GI Bill. This “Great Generation,” realizing the social and economic importance of a college education, enacted under President Johnson the Higher Education Act of 1965 so that their children (the Baby Boom Generation) could afford to go to college.

If it helped transform a country and a community like Kalamazoo, why not a state? If we are willing to give millions in grants and tax credits and other forms of tax relief to out of state companies, why not to Iowa students? If we provide it, they will come; just ask the City of Kalamazoo and the kids attending the Kalamazoo Public Schools. This may be the best economic development tool the state has in getting Iowans to stay and raise a family or start a business. This may be the best marketing tool in getting people to move to Iowa or a business to locate in Iowa. This may be one of the best marketing tools for the ISU Research Park.

So far, the Kalamazoo Promise has paid out $35 million to 2,500 students. In Kalamazoo, it has given K-12 students an opportunity to succeed; for parents it has taken down that brick wall of the nearly insurmountable cost of a child’s college education; and for businesses, a future of an educated, smart and trained workforce. More importantly, as former Western Michigan University President John Dunn told me, “It has given those students hope.” And those anonymous donors who started it all realized it was simply the right thing to do for the community.