Halter announces plan to cover college tuition for state students
'Arkansas Promise' would not raise taxes, campaign says
This article was originally published March 18, 2013 at 6:36 a.m. Updated March 18, 2013 at 8:07 a.m.
PHOTO BY AP / DANNY JOHNSTON
FILE — Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is interviewed in North Little Rock, Ark. in 2010.
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Former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter has announced a plan to cover complete college tuition for students graduating from high school and meeting minimum standards.
Halter, a Democrat who unveiled the "Arkansas Promise" as his first policy announcement in his campaign for governor, said the initiative — mirrored after similar programs in El Dorado and Arkadelphia — can be accomplished without raising taxes.
Halter, who as lieutenant governor spearheaded the effort to create the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery, said increasing financial support for the state's students is an important step for Arkansas, which ranks 49th in the country in percentage of work force with a college degree. He said a "well-educated, well-trained workforce" will attract companies to the state, resulting in higher-paying jobs.
"This is a proposal that would make Arkansas the number one state in the country in terms of college affordability and accessibility," Halter said in a phone interview Monday morning. "It's something that pays off not only for the students and their families, but it pays off for the entire state."
Students would qualify for the scholarships if they graduate from high school with a 2.5 grade-point average and attend an in-state school. The level of the scholarship would be equal to the tuition of the highest-cost, four-year public university.
Halter said the money would come from the existing Lottery Scholarship, federal grants, additional private scholarships and charitable support. A 26-page plan released with his announcement puts the estimated annual cost in additional general revenue from the state at $50 million to $75 million. Halter called that a "minor expense compared to the benefits it will create."
In his proposal, Halter noted that Gov. Mike Beebe's reduction in the grocery tax has resulted in a decrease of about $120 million a year in general revenue.
He said he has "explicitly" ruled out a tax increase as a funding source.
"My analysis is a tax increase is not necessary to fund this," Halter said. "General revenue growth and cost-savings will be sufficient to fund this."
If general revenue growth didn't fully fund the program, Halter said he would look to cut from "lower return" state spending. He declined to give examples of where he'd seek the money.
"We're talking about a proposal that would go through after a gubernatorial election that's 18 months away," he said. "It will depend on the circumstances at the time."
Halter is the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, though others have acknowledged they are considering entering the race including former U.S. Rep. Mike Ross and former Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter. Republicans former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson and businessman Curtis Coleman are also running.
Comments on: Halter announces plan to cover college tuition for state students
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RonalFos says... March 18, 2013 at 8:28 a.m.
I have no problem with raising taxes to do this. You build better roads at tax payer expense to help attract businesses and improve everyone's life. Education does the same thing. If Arkansans want a better life, better education is the path. Improved education is the tide that lifts all boats in this day and age.
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larry53 says... March 18, 2013 at 8:47 a.m.
WAIT! I thought the lottery was supposed to furnish money for in-state kids to go to college. This guy is a moron. Don't believe a word he says!
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NoUserName says... March 18, 2013 at 8:51 a.m.
Raise taxes? Something like 60% of traditional student lottery recipients lose their scholarship (i.e. low gpa). It's pretty clear AR high school students are simply not ready to attend college. Throwing MORE money at ill-prepared students is NOT the answer.
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LETSBEREALISTIC says... March 18, 2013 at 8:54 a.m.
Halter is in a no win situation, he's a liberal Democrat. As for school spending, America has blown 10's of billions of dollars on education and all that the educators have accomplished is unionized teachers and worse education of students. Cut education spending go back to basics, stop wasting my tax dollars.
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 18, 2013 at 9:05 a.m.
NoUserName nailed it; if you want to use money on education use it at the K-12 levels in Arkansas. I'm glad he is thinking about it, but he needs to fix the root cause.
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penber says... March 18, 2013 at 9:10 a.m.
A GPA of 2.5 does not prepare a student to succeed in a four year college and you are wasting money putting any student in that position.
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LevitiCuss says... March 18, 2013 at 9:13 a.m.
Oh, who needs that edumacation anyhow? Look how far Arkansas has gotten without it so far! LBR is happy to live surrounded by people just like him- staggeringly ignorant.
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morebeer says... March 18, 2013 at 9:27 a.m.
Quite a large number of scholarship recipients are doing so poorly that they don't qualify for the second year of the scholarship. I'd prefer a system where a student's tuition is reimbursed by the state after they've completed each semester of study. In other words, if they complete the first semester (or quarter) of study, they get a check for their tuition. The money is always in arrears. No money wasted on deadbeats and those gaming the system.
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PatWaverly says... March 18, 2013 at 9:46 a.m.
Hey Levi, you should go and read Gitz's column from yesterday. I do believe he nailed you.
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PatWaverly says... March 18, 2013 at 9:55 a.m.
And what I mean by that LevitiCuss is that because you disagree with this person's opinion you therefore describe him as being "staggeringly ignorant". Which I suppose makes you superior to him. Well, at least in your mind. See Gitz's column.
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 18, 2013 at 10:32 a.m.
Oh he got nailed alright Pat, but Levi will not admit it. He is part of the problem but never the solution
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BriarPatch2013 says... March 18, 2013 at 10:56 a.m.
The Lottery scholarship is still fairly new and the expectation of college proceeding from high school hasn't been ingrained in our state's culture. I'm sure there are a lot of 2.5 GPA students who have crashed and burned because they didn't know what to expect, and the reality of college was a rude awakening. The more that parents and students begin to see college as a very real part of their future, they will be better prepared to make the transition to higher education and hopefully take that book larnin' back to their communities. That said, I also have to agree that should more money should be invested in K-12 education. More teachers, smaller class sizes--K-12 is the foundation for college-readiness.
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LevyRat says... March 18, 2013 at 11:03 a.m.
Halter is never going to be Governor. I wouldn't buy a used car from this guy. Just another TAX AND SPEND LIBERAL who wants to give away enough stuff to get elected.
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Populist says... March 18, 2013 at 11:21 a.m.
Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the country because its workers are among the least educated in the country. Too much public money is spent on government workers when what Arkansas needs is better educated citizens. Halter, the Stanford MBA, understands what is holding Arkansas back economically. Unfortunately, many Arkansans do not understand the connection between education and economic prosperity.
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lazybar says... March 18, 2013 at 11:40 a.m.
pop and levi i don`t see anyone knocking a better education.i see those wanting kids to be better prepared before they are sent to college.
pop the average pay in arkansas may be lower than in your wonderful state but in many ways we are far richer.
•
•One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah,” said the son.
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”
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jeffieboy says... March 18, 2013 at 11:59 a.m.
Won't cost taxpayers a cent? Who's he kidding. When I went to college in the late 60's and early 70's tuition was $1,200 a yearat a top state university. There was no government assistance to speak of other than the GI bill. The more money governments pump into funding "higher" education the more the cost of it rises. It might not be direct tax cost but costs to consumers will still rise. If costs go up what does it matter whether government takes it from you in taxes or does things to make costs go up in other ways? It doesn't. End result is that anytime the government gets involved in anything costs go up in the end. Besides, the dismal performce of institutions of higher education hardly warrant bothering with them when more than 80% of people that start college on public funding don't graduate and half of people that do graduate are unemployed or underemployed, often working at a fast food joint. Before investing more in "higher" education there are many fundamental problems that need to be fixed.
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edo1962 says... March 18, 2013 at 11:59 a.m.
Bull Crap! The lottery scholarship is not even enough, this is only promises to get elected, nothing more. All this means is that he is a Democrat and would have to increase taxes, the only idea democrats ever have. I sent several honest genuine questions during the last election to his website. He never responded to one of them. I do not trust this man. Other candidates answered my questions, democrat and Rebublican
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edo1962 says... March 18, 2013 at 12:03 p.m.
Ronalfas
How much has education improved in over 80 years of arkansas's democrat controlled House? Zero
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NoUserName says... March 18, 2013 at 12:16 p.m.
Pop says: "Unfortunately, many Arkansans do not understand the connection between education and economic prosperity."
.
AR has a chicken/egg problem. Yes, we are poor because we are stupid. However, AR doesn't pay smart people, either. The salaries for degreed folks are downright pathetic. So...the smart people leave. I tend to think you're better off going top down rather than bottom up.
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Oldearkie says... March 18, 2013 at 12:31 p.m.
An ambitious plan and I don't feel his hand in my pocket. I'd like to know more.
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thankfulheart says... March 18, 2013 at 12:42 p.m.
I agree that Arkansas needs to put more emphasis on education, but I'm not sure that giving students with a 2.5 GPA a free ride to college is the answer. I believe setting such low academic standards would set many students up for failure. Where is the motivation to work hard in high school if you are guaranteed a free ride to college? ( I believe that's part of the problem with the lottery scholarships drop out rate.)
My son is in his first year of college. He worked very hard in high school and graduated with a 4.0 GPA, 27 hours of college credit and a 34 ACT score which is in the 99% in the nation. Although he received offers from very prestigious schools, he decided to stay in state because he got a full ride plus some other benefits at an excellent private school. He plans to go to med school, so he felt it would be best to graduate without debt. He set an academic goal in high school and achieved it. I just wonder how many students would work that hard if there was no motivation? As human beings, we tend to put more value on things that require much effort.
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NEARH says... March 18, 2013 at 12:58 p.m.
I'm with Morebeer. Handing $$ upfront is not a motivator for an education. I know of one that started with a 2 year program and went 4 years living on stipend $$ and freebies - having two babies with no intentions of graudating. She was living an OK life with no education...wow - what motivation. If a person has their heart set on an EDUCATION they should prove it - they will be persistant and will stop at nothing to short of their dream.
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Jfish says... March 18, 2013 at 1 p.m.
thankfulheart, those are excellent points. There is so much variability in high schools that a 2.5 GPA does not mean a whole lot. It should be based on ACT/SAT scores, and I think a full ride for everyone is a little too ambitious unless they want to reconfigure the lottery and say something like 80% will go to scholarships.
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Nate says... March 18, 2013 at 1:10 p.m.
Even if taxes have to be raised I'm in favor and on board! It so good to know there is politician with real ideas about how to move the state forward rather than taking us back into the dark ages and/or making embarrassing statements that don't serve as a benefit for anyone other than their own egos! So, refreshing.
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djigoo says... March 18, 2013 at 1:36 p.m.
Bill Halter is many things, but a "moron" he is not. Apparently, many of you wish Arkansas to remain near the bottom of almost every ranking in the country. Perhaps if you married outside your families, you'd see things differently.
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NoUserName says... March 18, 2013 at 2:07 p.m.
As I've already said, nearly 60% of traditional lottery scholarship recipients LOSE the scholarship. In other words, for whatever reason, they are not prepared to handle college. Do you really think this will be any different? The data already exists. Kids in AR are not READY for college. Giving them free money to flunk out of college isn't going to improve AR's ranking, ya know. Even Jim Bob and his cousin can see that. But apparently you can't.
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edo1962 says... March 18, 2013 at 2:18 p.m.
Djigoo - democrats have had there chance the last several decades! I do not trust Halter one bit
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djigoo says... March 18, 2013 at 2:25 p.m.
I've known Bill for over 37 years. I think I'm a pretty good judge of his character and intellect. I know that Populist has known him almost as long. How long have the rest of you known him personally?
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edo1962 says... March 18, 2013 at 2:41 p.m.
I tried to get to know him in his last attempt to get elected, sent 4 or 5 emails with questions. I wanted to know where he stood on some things, he did not respond even once, other candidates did.
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BriarPatch2013 says... March 18, 2013 at 3:03 p.m.
This state needs innovative and progressive educational planning. We need government officials who will stand up and demand that sufficient amounts of state revenue go toward education. I work in higher education and attest to the fact that there is a widening gap in education and literacy that is very scary. Halter's plan may not be perfect, but this at least shows progressive vision and commitment to public education. And by the way, exactly what part of a Republican plan for education (as if there ever was such a thing) do you think will produce better results for us?
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djigoo says... March 18, 2013 at 3:57 p.m.
Well put, BriarPatch. Thank you.
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NoUserName says... March 18, 2013 at 4:05 p.m.
No, it isn't progressive or innovative to send unprepared kids to college where they ultimately fail. The scholarship lottery has PROVED that the kids aren't ready. Why do you both conveniently ignore this? Sending more unprepared kids to college is a waste of money.
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Populist says... March 18, 2013 at 4:25 p.m.
Actually, my sister was a blowoff at Hall, flunked out her first year at UofA, and then pulled herself together and graduated with a nursing degree from UALR. With not much support from her ex, she put her kids through Catholic and MSM, and lives in a fine home and travels. It really does not matter when the education occurs, as long as it does occur. One statistic which is really hurting Arkansans is the lack of higher education. Some of the people who party through high school do end up turning into employable individuals after they finish college. Not everybody has to be a rocket scientist who graduates from a top school in 4 years. Our economy badly needs nurses and other medical technicians. It would be a refreshing change to have a businessman in the Governor's office. I would expect that Halter will cut back on the bureaucracy that plagues Arkansas politics and keep the spending on things which matter to the bottom line. Halter may be lacking a few e.q. points, but he understands money and the value of education. He also is not one of those Democrats who has been part of the system and kisses everybody's ring. Halter will do what he thinks needs to be done and he will not care whom he offends. Halter will be a refreshing change, and he is what the state needs.
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BriarPatch2013 says... March 18, 2013 at 4:34 p.m.
Don't exactly compare this to the Lottery Scholarship. The better comparison would be to the El Dorado Promise promise program where students carry the goal and promise of fully-paid college education throughout high school. Do these students do any better because these seeds of expectation were sewn early and/or do they do better because debt is not weighing them down. I'm not ignoring the drop-out rate, and yes, 2.5 gpa may be too low. However, the scholarship lottery is still too new to draw any conclusions about whether Arkansans can succeed in higher education when given financial assistance.
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Packman says... March 18, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
Hey morebeer - Wonderful idea! Better watch out, however, lest someone accuse you of thinking like a conservative (self-reliance, personal accountability and such). As to Halter's proposal, he weaves a nice fairy tale for the mind-numbed among us. Anyone can trot out any level of pie-in-the-sky foolishness so long as details and pragmatism do not matter. Halter's toast regardless, and just wasting everyone's time.
Hey BriarPatch - What makes you think education in Arkansas isn't currently funded at appropriate levels? Compared to states will similar cost of living indicies, how does Arkansas rank on state funding of higher education? Money is not the answer. The answer is in education reform starting at the K-12 level that include school choice and a focus on historical learning and skills training and doing away with liberal arts ed K-12. Pretty interesting to note that Arkansas does such a poor job of educating its citizenry the state has produced a POTUS, US Sec of State, most successful retailer in American history, and some of the top medical professionals in the United States. My oh my, how did that ever happen?????
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 18, 2013 at 5:57 p.m.
If they don't start doing something about K-12 they will not get the return on investment that they should. It is a good idea but it's like telling your employee that you know they only have a high school education but you are going to pay for them to go into an MBA program.
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Populist says... March 18, 2013 at 6:38 p.m.
Packman,
Hillary was educated in Illinois. Extremely self-motivated individuals can achieve by self-study, but that does not mean that it is not valuable to have a well educated workforce. The correlation between a strong economy and education is huge. Education in Arkansas needs to improve. You are always touting how we need people who understand finance in government. Here is a successful businessman and economic guru who wants to improve Arkansas. Let's help him do it.
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djigoo says... March 18, 2013 at 6:58 p.m.
I'm with you, Populist!
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T6 says... March 18, 2013 at 7:08 p.m.
Something is wrong with our education system when students graduating high school with B's and C's have to take remedial classes before they can go to college.
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Packman says... March 18, 2013 at 7:16 p.m.
Hey Populist - I stand corrected on Hillary. My bad. Should have noted Mayou Angelou or Helen Gurley Brown instead. The entire nation can do a better job of "education" including Arkansas, depending on how the word's defined. However, the pinnacle of dumb is equating additional expenditures on the current educational system with improvement. To improve education we must first reform the system towards outcomes instead of outputs. If you understand the difference between outcomes and outputs, you will know what I mean.
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 18, 2013 at 7:22 p.m.
Populist if we first fix the K-12 problem it will have a HUGE impact on college education in the state. If we start at the college level it will not work nearly as well. He is wanting to use this lottery money for education; he needs to start where it counts. I promise more high school grads in Arkansas will have a bigger impact on the state itself than putting some kids into college for free. Raise the HS grad rate by 15% and there will be more of them go to college. If we don't raise the HS grad rate giving some kids some money for college will not help our state.
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morebeer says... March 18, 2013 at 7:39 p.m.
Hey Packman, I consider myself conservative on many issues. I don't think the government should hand out cash as welfare in most instances, and the government for the most part has learned this. That's why the poor get housing vouchers and EBT cards instead of checks. I say if we're going to be a humane society, offer food, housing and Medicaid, but having cash in one's pocket is a real motivator to earn a paycheck. Obviously. there should be exceptions for the truly disabled and short-term unemployed. My mother was a public health nurse in the 1960s, and I remember once just after the first of the month ( I remember, because I was in the car), she pulled up to the Walnut Bar, went in, dragged a husband and wife out, and made them go to the grocery store with her (and me), because she knew they were about to spend the whole d*** welfare check they'd just gotten on booze and their kids weren't going to eat at home. I know anecdotal info is sort of worthless, but ...
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 18, 2013 at 8:05 p.m.
I like that morebeer; sounds similar to what I saw growing up. I was young and naive but watching people pay with food stamps and load their groceries into a new Cadillac always puzzled me. I also watched parents send their kids through the line with a $1 food stamp and buy bubble gum so they could get 98 cents change to give to their parents to buy beer and cigs (Safeway taught me tons about life). It seemed like the WIC program was better (not sure what it is called now).
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DontDrinkDatKoolAid says... March 18, 2013 at 8:53 p.m.
People said that Hitler, a good ole catholic boy himself, had good character and intellect, however his polices really sucked.
~
I understand what Halter is trying to do, but what some will hear, “Vote for me and I will find a way to send your child(ren) to college”, which some will argue.
~
In other news … the A.P. reports that Mike Rose is considering reconsidering his original consideration of running for Governor again, since our A.G. dropped his other shoe off the wrong side of the bed .. again, will not himself be running for Gov.
~
Long story short, Arkansans have become tired of Progressivism.
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Arcant says... March 18, 2013 at 8:59 p.m.
I agree a full ride for the 2.5 folk seems a bit high, particularly in seeing how most high school students will tell you they hardly had to study in high school. Maybe give the 3.5 students a free ride as this will give them something to strive for. Or, even offer the free ride to the 3.0 students if they take some AP classes. Anyhow, just find me a governor who will outlaw the dry county system. That's just as embarrassing as our dismal education rates.
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arkateacher54_aol.com says... March 18, 2013 at 10:14 p.m.
We all ready have too many kids going to college who get nothing out of it, don't graduate and waste the money that somebody provided to pay for this waste of time. This is just another Democrat scam to increase the influence of a government-run institution, take more of our money away and transform gullible young people into Democrat-voting zombies.
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ladyLiberty says... March 18, 2013 at 10:23 p.m.
maybe the extra monies from taxes could be used to hire better teachers? there is something wrong when the arkansas students can not write a decent essay, grammatically correct.
this is probably a teacher problem. if you want to inspire a child, you hire inspiring teachers. but also it is proven that parents can make that difference too. uneducated parents may also produce students who do not excel in school. why are there so many home schooled children in arkansas?
Bill Halter is a smart man who is at least trying to do something for the people of arkansas. he will probably mature into a fine politician someday. Good Luck Bill in 2014.
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GrimReaper says... March 18, 2013 at 11:59 p.m.
This little carpetbagging Bill Clinton wannabe needs to trot his butt back up to DC where he
belongs.
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Populist says... March 19, 2013 at 6:26 a.m.
Redwings,
It is early in the campaign. I am sure that Halter will trot out initiatives on the K-12 front as well. While the teachers and administrators need to be improved, so do the students. I expect that if they know that they will get a package to enable them to go to college, these kids will study harder to achieve. Also, I agree a 3.0 probably sounds better, but hopefully we can get rid of grade inflation and start improving the bad schools. Arkansas really needs a reformer like Halter. He will cut the fat elsewhere so he can spend on education. Mark Warner in Virginia was an extremely popular governor because he understands finance and was able to cut here and there and spend where Virginia needed it. Arkansas government needs a good business approach to its operations.
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RonalFos says... March 19, 2013 at 7:45 a.m.
I would like to see even the scholarship program we have now be based more on grades both in high school and college. Start with a higher grade point average in HS to get the scholarship and good grades in college to keep it. For example, make the scholarship a loan in the beginning and at the end of the year forgive all or part of it based on grades.
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morebeer says... March 19, 2013 at 8:39 a.m.
Someone wrote that these would be full-ride scholarships, but the article clearly states "full-tuition" scholarships, which means, room, board and books are not covered. I wonder if it would motivate the schools to raise tuition but not other costs to get a bigger slice. With the lottery scholarships, some university administrators have grumbled that getting more lottery scholarship students is a mixed blessing because the state hasn't correspondingly increased state aid to higher education, which these administrators say forces the colleges to raise other costs, since students don't pay the full cost of their educations.
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BillSmith says... March 19, 2013 at 11:01 a.m.
I am sure grimreaper would rather see someone like Jason Rapert governor. He has done so much to bring us jobs,jobs,jobs and the Mittster would say.
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NoUserName says... March 19, 2013 at 12:15 p.m.
Oh god I hope not. Rapert has been a disaster.
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GrimReaper says... March 19, 2013 at 12:37 p.m.
BillSmith,
If you weren't so ignorant you would know that REAL jobs, jobs, jobs are provided, not by government, but by the private economy that your class continually strives to paralyze with the burden of ever bigger government.
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Populist says... March 19, 2013 at 1:19 p.m.
Grim Reaper,
Better education=more highly skilled workers=better economy. Education is a function of government.
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djigoo says... March 19, 2013 at 1:20 p.m.
Grim, do you even know what a carpetbagger is? Halter is a native Arkansawyer.
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Populist says... March 19, 2013 at 1:23 p.m.
Djigoo,
Yes, and Halter's not even from the sophisticated city of Little Rock. He's from dogtown! (Please do not remind me that I lived with my father in Jacksonville for a spell). I do think his accent is not as thick as it was in high school though.
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BarichMilhusseinObamaNixonPOTUS says... March 19, 2013 at 1:47 p.m.
Populist I thought Dogtown was Van Buren? Maybe that's because I grew up in Ft. Smith and the VB mascot is the Pointers.
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GrimReaper says... March 19, 2013 at 2:59 p.m.
You're right, Populist. Education is a function of government..........and look at what they
have done with it!
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SoonerHawg says... March 19, 2013 at 3:41 p.m.
Populist says... "While the teachers and administrators need to be improved, so do the students. I expect that if they know that they will get a package to enable them to go to college, these kids will study harder to achieve."
***
Why would this motivate someone more than is currently before them.....? Study hard and achieve any of tons of scholarships currently available - some are private, some are public, but there are a great number out there. Admit that most of the onus is on the families of the students.....the education is there FREE for the taking from K-12, yet so many fail to do so.
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Pobucker says... March 19, 2013 at 4:23 p.m.
Populist and djigoo know Halter and stand up for him. That's good enough for me, because I respect their opinions. I liked his lottery, liked how he pushed it through. He is smart and productive. I'll likely vote for him.
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morebeer says... March 19, 2013 at 7:09 p.m.
BillSmith, Rapert is creating a lot of jobs with his abortion bill. Jobs for lawyers defend and contest it; jobs in the new bureaucracy to monitor and register Arkansas women's menstrual cycles so we can count the days to when they can have legally get an abortion; jobs for a new corps of Christian ultrasound technicians, the only ones who will be trusted to listen for the fetal heartbeat; Harding University is gearing up to offer a technical degree in Christian fetal heartbeat detection.
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Populist says... March 21, 2013 at 7:10 a.m.
SoonerHawg,
Student debt has never been higher. There are only a few scholarships for the very best students, and too many people don't even think in terms of college. By making it affordable, the state if offering kids a carrot to improve themselves. Arkansas desperately needs a better educated workforce. Yes, it costs money to help kids with college, but better educated people make more money and pay more in taxes for their life times. Too many Arkansans are making minimum wage or less and are on food stamps when they could have gone to college and gotten a nursing degree etc. The correlation between education and economic health holds up in comparisons by state, county etc. Arkansas will move forward when it emphasizes education.
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