The campus of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sept. 17, 2019.
Although nearly half the states have embraced similar initiatives that seek to cover at least some tuition expenses for some students, New Mexico’s law goes further by covering tuition and fees before other scholarships and sources of financial aid are applied, enabling students to use those other funds for expenses such as lodging, food or child care.
State Sen. Cliff Pirtle, a Republican, said he was confident that the program would receive legislative funding well into the future. He voted for the legislation, he said, largely because of the need to help adults who have halted studies for economic reasons. Legislators simplified the program while increasing its funding to $75 million — nearly 1% of the state’s overall budget of $8.5 billion — from initial estimates of $25 million to $35 million. With the aim of reducing student debt, they also focused on allowing students to capitalize on other scholarships without having to scramble to cover the cost of attendance.
“We build the budget on $60-a-barrel oil,” Lujan Grisham said in an interview, noting that oil prices have recently been hovering around $100 a barrel. She argued that oil royalties, along with resurgent tourism and hospitality industries, could serve as pillars to bolster college access for years to come.
Other states are assembling their own programs: The University of Texas System created a $300 million endowment in February that expands tuition assistance for thousands of students. Michigan provides free college to residents who were essential workers during the pandemic, while also covering tuition at community colleges for people 25 or older.
It would be like free high school. That seems to work out okay.
And where will the money come from?
Was in California till Reagan axed it any coinkydink that all the hi tech was founded there