Bill would cap Mississippi college tuition
College freshmen would be assured tuition costs would remain constant for four years at Mississippi’s colleges and universities under legislation filed Thursday and supported by State Auditor Stacey Pickering and Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant.
By holding tuition constant, students could be assured that at least that part of their college costs would not go up as they work through four years of undergraduate work, said Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, the bill’s primary sponsor.
“There’s a middle group of college students who are still working jobs after their college education, their parents are working double jobs, and it’s really putting their families in a financial crunch,” Davis said.
“This bill is really targeted toward those families in the middle who need the financial assistance but don’t qualify for it — maybe they make just a little too much — as well as those who aren’t financially independent. This helps give them some financial assistance and stability.”
Parents whose children attend college under the plan would receive a $500 credit on their state income taxes.
Since the 1988-89 school year, tuition at Mississippi’s four-year public universities has risen an average of 5.44 percent annually.
During that same period, annual rate of inflation has averaged 3.01 percent, according to figures supplied by Pickering’s office.
Commercial Appeal
1/16/9
Magnolia Tribune
