Got HOPE? It's not nearly enough

[Adam Griffin]

This is a blog/article I wrote for my new creation, unitedliberals.com. I'm looking for a few liberal-minded writers who also would be interested in contributing to form an array of liberal perspective on issues. If you're interested, shoot me a line. Now back to the subject, please let me know what you think of my proposal. It's rough and needs to be tweaked in some areas, but I thought I'd get some opinions on it.

   So, I've been doing some research in regards to education in my home state of Georgia. Here we have a pretty good program known as the HOPE Scholarship/Grant, which pays for 100% of in-state tuition to a Georgia public university, provides $150 per semester towards books, & covers other small HOPE-approved mandatory fees. This program was started in 1993 by Governor Zell Miller (who has since became a Republican and quite the grandfather type). In November 1992, voters approved the establishment of a state lottery which would become the primary funding source for this program. Since 1993, several other states have implemented HOPE-like programs with the intent of replicating the success it has had in Georgia.
   While HOPE has been a blessing to young people of Georgia, and perhaps the best piece of legislation to be passed in the state in the past 20 years, it still lacks. Simply paying for tuition and a small credit towards books saves students several thousand dollars per year on average, but what about other expenses? I'm going to personalize this a bit. I was an intelligent kid growing up, and everybody always assumed I would go to college. My mom is a hard worker, and has been working since she was 12 years old. She has always been able to provide for both of us, but there was never enough left to be able to put money back for college. Ultimately, the time came around for college and I had no money saved and no scholarships came through for me for any colleges or universities (I slacked somewhat in high school). Anyway, the HOPE Scholarship was there to provide for my tuition and some for books, but even as an 18-year old I found myself with an increasing amount of debt. I had a car payment, insurance, gas, cell phone, and other expenses which came to the tune of $900 per month. Working a 35-hour a week job and going to high school was exhausting mentally and physically, and I knew it would prove to be disastrous in college. So I made a choice. I put college off and decided to focus on paying my way out of debt so I could focus on a full-time education without any occupational distractions. Over two years have passed and I'm still trying to get there. See the point?
    Now I know that there are plenty of people out there who do it. They work one or two or maybe even three part-time jobs and go to school at the same time. It is do-able. The question is should one have to sacrifice their mental and physical well-being by working and attending classes in the day and staying up all hours of the night to study, just to earn an education, something that is viewed as a fundamental right in this country?
   What if there was a way to obtain that education and meet your financial obligations without having to work and go to school? What would it be worth to you, to your children, and to their future? Well, little ol' me has an idea, something that could very well be a make-or-break when it comes to the future of post-secondary education as we know it. This plan is based off of facts and figures within the state of Georgia, so a plan in a different state would been to be tweaked, but follow me on this.
   In the 2008-09 school year, there have been 166,547 students so far who have received HOPE benefits to the sum of $260.6 million. This includes all students attending colleges and universities within the state of Georgia who have less than 127 credit hours and have at least a 'B' average. What if we could supplement these students with a monthly stipend that helped provide for things such as food, room and board, more assistance for books, and other living expenses? Imagine the burden lifted off of the shoulders of both the students and their parents, many of which are helping pay for the education of their children!
   How would something be afforded? It's simple. In recent years we have seen several states enact higher taxes on tobacco products. The efforts of these states have been largely successful, simultaneously increasing state revenue while decreasing the number of smokers and improving the quality of health within their states. There are many smokers (including myself) in my home state who gripe about the cost of cigarettes. However, the tax on tobacco in Georgia is quite low when compared to the rest of the nation. The average state cigarette tax is $1.19 per pack. Georgia's cigarette tax is $0.37 per pack.
   So what's a state government to do? I propose the following. A tobacco tax increase of 63 cents per pack, raising the total tax per pack of cigarettes in Georgia to $1.00 per pack, would generate an estimated $438 million in additional revenue per year for the state. Also, if an amount of $375 million from the Georgia Department of Education (4.8% of the total annual DoE budget) budget was allocated to this project, along with $55 million from the Georgia Department of Justice budget (2.9% of the total annual DoJ budget), you would have a total of $868 million per year for this little project. Both of these amounts are less than the one year increase in funding for the two departments between the Georgia 2008 and 2009 budgets.
   If you take this newly-gathered $868 million and apply it for students who are in their first two years of college, the outcome would be awesome. There are no updated figures available, but going off of the updated enrollment statistics I am going to estimate that there are roughly 110,000 students out of the 166,547 students currently covered by HOPE that are in their first two years of college. Based off of this, you would be able to provide each and every one of these 110,000 students with an additional $150 for books each semester, and a monthly stipend (nine monthly payments from August to April) of, get this, $843.43 per month. Imagine the implications for post-secondary education if students were able to go to school and give full concentration to their studies and afford their expenses, while only having to keep a 'B' average to continue receiving this. Students who live in efficiency apartments or who have roommates would be able to pay their rent/room and board, and utilities and still have money left over for other expenses while they obtain their Associate's Degree. This would provide every student in Georgia who carries a 'B' average the opportunity to obtain at least a 2-year degree with virtually all expenses paid (tuition, food, room and board/rent, and other living expenses). And with only 23% of current education funding going towards post-secondary education in Georgia, an increase is well-warranted.