New Policies In Georgia, Ohio, And Colorado Reducing Barriers To College

At a time when many colleges and universities are announcing tuition increases for the next academic year, a handful of states and major universities have recently passed legislation or voted in policies that will help students afford and complete their college education. Here are three leading examples.

Georgia

On April 12, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted to hold current tuition and fees flat at most of its schools and to eliminate a “Special Institutional Fee” that they had been charging to students since 2009. This is the third year in a row—and the fifth time in seven years—that the Board of Regents has approved keeping tuition flat at its institutions.

As a result, undergraduate and graduate tuition costs for the upcoming academic year will remain the same as for last year at all but one institution. The one exception is Middle Georgia State University, which is beginning a three-year plan to bring undergraduate tuition into line with similar universities in the state.

In addition, and perhaps more remarkable simply because of how seldom it happens, the Board’s elimination of the Special Institutional Fee will save students anywhere from $170 to $544 per semester depending on which institution they attend.

That fee had been imposed as a way for the system to maintain academic programming and operations during a time when state funding had been reduced because of sagging revenue. According to the Board, the elimination of the fee was made possible by increases to the USG budget of almost $230 million in new state support.

Ohio

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 135 into law last week. That legislation includes several provisions affecting higher education, but one of its most noteworthy elements is that it makes permanent Ohio’s “Second Chance Grant Program.”

Under that program, which had been piloted last year, the state will award one-time $2,000 grants to Ohio students who return to a college, university or technical center to finish their undergraduate degree. To be eligible, students must return within five years after dropping out, and they must have been in good academic standing when they left.

Ohio, like many states, is grappling with the issue of how to encourage students who’ve completed some college credits but still not earned a bachelor’ degree to return to college and finish their degree. Leveraging re-enrollment via a generous amount of financial aid may prove to be a policy that will be copied in other states.

Colorado

In Colorado, Governor Jared Polis signed HB 2049 into law, prohibiting colleges from withholding student transcripts or diplomas over unpaid fees, parking tickets and other charges. In addition, if a student owes tuition, financial aid or room and board fees, Colorado’s colleges will be required to release transcripts or diplomas if the student needs them to apply for a job, transfer credits, financial aid, or postsecondary opportunities such as joining the military.

Colorado joins a growing number of states – such as Maine and Washington – that have passed similar laws banning the practice of colleges holding back student transcripts and other credentials as leverage on students who owe them money. Recently, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called for ending the practice of transcript withholding, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also scrutinizing the practice.

Transcript withholding has become a national problem. It’s estimated to affect as many as 6.6 million students, with the majority of colleges using it as one of their main tactics for making students pay outstanding bills.

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None of these policies alone is a college affordability or completion game-changer – like student loan debt forgiveness and national free college are touted to be. But each one is a practical, feasible action that will help students overcome some of the obstacles to completing their college education.

Rolling back fees that are no longer necessary, ending the policy of withholding transcripts to collect payments, and giving more financial aid to lure one-time college students back to finish what they started are all smart steps that can make a difference. Let’s hope we see more of them.