By Bryan Corbin, Evansville Courier & Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Gov. Mitch Daniels this morning proposed that the state pay for college tuition for every graduating high school senior - enough to cover two years at Ivy Tech Community College or the equivalent amount at one of the four-year state colleges or universities.
Daniels did not have a firm plan for how he would pay for such an increase in state-supported college tuition, but he said he would "absolutely" revisit the idea of leasing the Hoosier Lottery to a private operator to generate lease proceeds to pay for scholarships. He said a tax increase was a last resort.
Speaking to a group of trustees and administrators from the state's colleges and universities, the Republican governor invited them to suggest proposals for how such tuition could be funded.
Daniels said under his plan, middle-income high school graduates would be eligible for an Ivy Tech tuition "in the neighborhood" of $3,000 a year for two years, an amount they also could use as a head start on tuition at one of the state's four-year schools.
Linda Bennett, provost of the University of Southern Indiana, said USI tuition is in the $4,600 to $4,700 range per year.
While programs such as the 21st Century Scholars exist to fund tuition for low-income students, Daniels said for middle-income students and their families, there still are too many financial barriers to accessing a college education.
Daniels said that later this year he would unveil a more specific funding mechanism for his proposal, which potentially could include leasing the lottery or reconfiguring existing programs. Daniels' earlier proposal to privatize the lottery to generate scholarship funding passed the Republican-controlled state Senate in the 2007 session but died in the Democratic-controlled Indiana House.