Ky. chamber proposes new plan to pay tuition

This from the C-J:

Student, family, state, school to split cost

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is proposing a new way to help Kentucky students pay for college.

The Guaranteed Affordability Program, or GAP, is designed to split the cost of college among students, families, schools and the government. Chamber President Dave Adkisson presented the plan to a legislative subcommittee yesterday.

The plan calls for the following:

Students must contribute to their tuition an amount equal to what they could earn from a 40-hour work week during the summer and 10 to 15 hours per week during the school year at a minimum wage job. That contribution could come from private scholarships, as well as such state funding as a Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship.

Families must contribute an amount determined by federal financial aid guidelines.

Scholarships or other funding given by the college or university must be applied to tuition costs.

The state must make up the difference between the above sums and the cost of attending a public university or community and technical college.

The state Council on Postsecondary Education would determine the cost of attending a public institution, and students attending independent colleges and universities would be eligible to receive that public "cost of attendance" to apply toward their education costs.

The chamber did not release any estimates of what the plan would cost the state.

"Until you study our current resources, and the eligibility requirements, you could not put a price tag on it," Adkisson said. "We assume it would require extra dollars, but we also assume the economy will eventually improve." ...