Obama, state officials address college costs

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Gov. Rick Snyder and MSU administrators both showed support for President Barack Obama’s call to suppress the rising cost of college, which he outlined in a speech at the University of Michigan last Friday.

While MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon agreed with the purpose of the plan unveiled at U-M, a Snyder spokeswoman said Obama and the Republican governor at least can find common ground in the goal of making college more affordable.

On Friday, the president announced a college Race to the Top, a $1 billion plan that would base additional federal funding for states and colleges on their ability to keep costs down, and a $55 million competition for colleges to increase student achievement.

“We at Michigan State University are willing to do our part,” Simon said in an email statement, citing MSU’s increased graduation rates and number of Pell Grant students as a start. “Now is the time for the federal and state governments, along with colleges and universities, to step up to the plate to ensure that we can continue to offer a world-class education … at an affordable price.”

But such a program could be a tough sell. It likely would have to be formatted in a way that requires congressional approval, facing a large Republican majority in the House .

While governor spokeswoman Sara Wurfel didn’t indicate Snyder was supporting Obama’s specific plans, she said Obama and Snyder can find common ground in policy efforts to lower college costs.

She also indicated the governor might invest more in education this year in his proposal to the legislature set to be released Feb. 9.

“The Governor is focused on maintaining the state’s fiscal responsibility but also strategically investing in key priorities, including education,” Wurfel said in an email, stressing the budget still is a work in progress. “But it’s not just about more money, it’s about outcome and results. That’s something the Governor is equally focused on.”

Although they come from different ends of the political spectrum, Snyder and Obama have proposed similar solutions to keep tuition low. Last year, Snyder included a 7.1 percent cap on tuition raises for universities to maintain full funding. In both his State of the Union address and speech in Ann Arbor, Obama advocated a similar solution.

“If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down,” Obama said Tuesday.

Another planned program announced in the speech creates a “report card” for colleges — a scorecard for every college in America that would include information such as costs, graduation rates and potential earning — aimed at helping college-bound students and their parents make a more accurate decision.

Still, the president said states need to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets.

“We know that these state budget cuts have been the largest factor in tuition increases at public colleges over the past decade,” Obama told more than 3,000 people packed into the Al Glick Fieldhouse. “We’re challenging states to take responsibility as well on this issue.”

Finance freshman Wyatt Lutz, who is politically conservative, said he isn’t against investment in education, but is wary of the source of funding.

“Everybody deserves to go to school,” Lutz said. “(But) I’d be curious to see where the money is coming from.”

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