Maine Looks At Waiver That Would Cut Four-Year College Tuition In Half

Lawmakers in Maine are considering a new bill that would waive up to 50% of tuition expenses for up to four years for upcoming high school graduates in the state. The bill, LD 512, establishes two types of tuition waivers for students who enroll at a campus of the University of Maine System.

• The first waiver would provide 50% tuition for up to four years for a full-time student who is a high school graduate in the class of 2023, 2024 or 2025 or obtains the equivalent of a high school diploma in those same years. Students receiving the waiver would have to enroll full-time in a University of Maine system campus in the fall of those years. (The current, published annual tuition for in-state students attending the University of Maine is $11,640.)
• The second tuition waiver provides 50% tuition for up to one year for returning students who have resided in the state for at least five years and are 30 or fewer credit hours away from degree completion.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Mike Tipping, whose district includes the University of Maine’s flagship campus at Orono, said, "Enrollment has been down, and student debt has been up" in an interview reported by WMTW, an ABC affiliate. Tipping added, "If we want to have a state where students can go here and stay here, and if we want teachers and nurses and engineers, we need to invest in our future."

The bill has received enthusiastic support from various higher education constituencies. A group of economics faculty submitted a letter of support that pointed out the benefits of such a policy, including the need for Maine to balance its support for two-year and four-year institutions.

Last year, Maine began offering high-school seniors two free years of community college education, a $20 million policy initiative of Governor Janet T. Mills. The professors said that while they supported that effort, “we note that without an accompanying policy reducing the cost of attending a school within the University of Maine System, this policy is likely to have a destabilizing effect on the system of public higher education in Maine and on students themselves.”

According to the letter, the free community college program has been associated with enrollment increasing by 12% in the Maine Community College System, equivalent to about 1,800 more students enrolled. At the same time, enrollment across the University of Maine System, declined by about 1,400 undergraduates, a decrease of 6.5%.

As a result, the professors argue that “the public higher education system has been thrown out of balance. The community college system is operating above its capacity–some community colleges throughout the state are now teaching 25-30% more students–while campuses across the University of Maine System are operating below their capacity and facing budgetary problems as a result.”

Tipping’s bill received its first public hearing Monday before the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. A fiscal note estimating the cost of the program has not yet been filed.