{news} Paying for college with lottery proposed

[clifford thornton]

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16875128&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6<http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16875128&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6>

Paying for college with lottery proposed 
Maria Garriga, Register Staff
07/03/2006
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The Green Party candidate for governor, Cliff Thornton, wants to give the state's college students free tuition, funded through lottery earnings. 


But while the other candidates running for governor agree that costly college tuition is a problem, they generally don't see lottery funds as the answer.

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"Anyone who wants to go to college should be able to go to college," said Thornton, a retired Southern New England Telephone Co. manager who lives in Glastonbury.

Thornton's plan would be similar to the Hope Scholarships in Georgia, which give free college tuition to residents who maintain a B average.

To give students an incentive to work for the money, he would make the scholarships contingent on students maintaining a 2.0 grade point average at two-year colleges and a 3.0 at four-year colleges.

Thornton said the money to make this happen is already available.

"In the fiscal year 2005, the Connecticut lottery provided $268.5 million to the state's general fund, where it is used as a slush fund for all sorts of pet projects and pork barrel. Why not dedicate it solely for free tuition for our students?" Thornton asked. "When students take out loans, they are paying the loans back for half their lives."

Thornton's free tuition plan would pay for public institutions in-state and would contribute the cost of an in-state public college toward the cost of attending private colleges.

According to the state Division of Special Revenue, the lottery revenue went into the state's general budget and was used for a variety of purposes: 21.7 percent or $58.4 million of the lottery revenue was used for state Medicaid costs; 15.35 percent or $41.2 million went to the Department of Education; 10.1 percent or $27.1 percent was used to pay off old state borrowing. 

The rest of the lottery money was used for a variety of programs.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican who is seeking re-election, said through a spokesman that she would not support the plan to use lottery funds to give state college students free tuition. 

"Certainly she would support ways to make college more affordable, but the real question is how to pay for it," said Rell's campaign spokesman Rich Harris. "The lottery funds are already overextended."

Harris said Rell proposed a tuition freeze last year but it was rejected by the General Assembly.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., who, along with Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in an Aug. 8 primary, said the lottery funds have already been fully tapped for necessary programs.

"Tuition should never be a barrier for a person wanting to attend one of Connecticut's colleges or universities and ... Connecticut should consider its own type of Hope Scholarship program, similar to Georgia's," said Derek Slap, DeStefano's campaign spokesman.

Slap said DeStefano proposed the In-demand Scholars Program - providing more than $175 million in targeted scholarships to students pursuing careers in nursing, engineering and the sciences. 

The scholarship will require a four-year residence in the state to prevent brain drain. If a scholarship-holder leaves the state before completing the residency requirement, the scholarship will be treated as a loan under DeStefano's proposal. 

Malloy's camp is more sympathetic to the idea of using lottery funds for free college tuition but stopped short of endorsing it.

"When the concept of the lottery and the casinos (was) pitched to the people of Connecticut, it was promised both would be solely dedicated to education. That hasn't happened during the Rowland and Rell administrations, and that's why Connecticut has some of the highest property taxes in the country," said Malloy's campaign manager, Chris Cooney.

Malloy would expand school revenue sources, Cooney said. 

"We should draw on the lottery income, casino income, income taxes, property taxes and utility taxes. That would alleviate the property tax burden on Connecticut's working families," Cooney said.

Malloy's plan would freeze tuition at state colleges and universities, offer reduced "seasonal prices" for winter and summer courses, slash the tuition rate at the University of Connecticut's branch campuses and offer a $1,000 tuition rebate to students who graduate within four years with a B-plus grade point average. Malloy would also create a "Teach for Connecticut" student loan reimbursement program to attract highly skilled graduates to obtain certification and teach in critical shortage areas. 



©New Haven Register 2006 


Thornton for Governor
PO Box 1971
Manchester CT 06045
VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com<mailto:VoteThornton at yahoogroups.com>
WWW.VoteThornton.com<http://www.votethornton.com/> 
860 657 8438-H
860 268 1294-C
860 778 1304-Tim Mckee--Campaign Manager
860 293 0222-Ken Krayeske--Field Coordinator
Paid for by Thornton For Governor
Donna L. Byrne-McKee, Treasurer  

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