EDITORIAL: Give us a break
Michigan students need incentives, like tax credits, to remain in the state
College students in the United States graduate with an average of $29,600 in debt, according to the Pew Research Center.
Now, think about the fact students at Central Michigan University graduate with almost $3,000 more in debt than the national average.
CMU's Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid offers tools to help with managing student debt, but only state lawmakers can actually take steps to alleviate the financial burden placed on graduates. Michigan has largely ignored the issue, allowing student debt to climb exponentially over the last decade.
If lawmakers want graduates to plant their roots and help rebuild the state, they need to give us a reason to stay.
Michigan as a whole graduates students with more debt than the national average. The Bridge Magazine reported in the 2010-11 academic year, the debt of Michigan students was more than $3,200 higher than the national average.
As recently as 1993 — the year many current students who will graduate in May were born — national student debt was an average of $12,400. In the span of a current college student's lifetime, that figure has more than doubled.
Financial Aid Services does offer limited resources to students so they do not have to muddle through debt on their own. At CMU, students are provided with financial aid counselors, an online debt calculator, several scholarship opportunities and a three-credit personal finance course, where they can learn how to manage their finances.
These resources are helpful, but they are not a solution and do not address the core problem. They are band aids placed on the wounds of ever-growing and crippling student debt.
There have been some attempts in Michigan to directly address and alleviate the burden of debt for students. Rep. Andy Schore, D-Lansing and Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr., D-East Lansing introduced versions of the same bill to the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives in January.
House Bill 4118 and Senate Bill 57 would grant income tax credits of up to 50 percent of payments made on loans by graduates who chose to live and work in Michigan. Graduates making qualified loan payments would be illegible for the credits for up to five years.
Tax credits for a single student could total up to $2,150.
The bills received initial support, with students from Michigan State University testifying in February in front of the Michigan Senate Finance Committee. Since then, there has been little progress and the bills have been scarcely publicized.
Versions of the bills were moved through the Michigan Senate and introduced in the House in the last legislative term. They were both stalled before the end of 2014, forcing the entire proposal process to restart this year.
Michiganders can look to other states to see that tax credits for students are not only possible, but beneficial for all. Maine has had an established tax credit program, called Opportunity Maine, enticing its graduates to remain in the state since 2008.
The Detroit Free Press reported that while 19,000 college-educated people aged 22-34 moved to Michigan in 2012, 28,000 people left.
If Michigan lawmakers want to retain their young, bachelors degree-holding residents, they need to take initiatives like the proposed tax credit seriously. Giving students tools to manage their debt while allowing its continued growth will only pacify them to a point.
Many Michigan students would stay and help rebuild the state, if given the chance.
Lawmakers, help us out.
