AZ State: Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R) to poor college students "Welcome to life."

[NJMaverick]

Poor college students facing expulsion from college due to their inability to pay the new $2000 minimum payment to attend state college were met with open hostility by Republican Michelle Ugenti who doesn't believe the poor should be able to attend college.

Quote:An Arizona House committee passed a bill last week that would require every student at a public college in the state, regardless of economic status, to pay a minimum of $2,000 in tuition.

As Think Progress noted, nearly 100 Arizona students attended the committee hearing to speak out against the bill, HB 2675, expressing concern that it would make it more difficult for many students to afford college. Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-Scottsdale) responded bluntly in favor of the new measure: "Welcome to life."

Rep. Matt Heinz (D-Tucson), who voted against the bill, criticized his Republican colleague for her remarks.

"I feel these students are being greeted with open hostility," he said.

As The Arizona Republic reported last week, the bill was sponsored by Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) after hearing that nearly half of Arizona students did not pay tuition during the 2009-10 school year, whether through scholarships or need-based financial aid programs.

A staffer for the Arizona Board of Regents told the Arizona Republic last week that the "nearly half" was "an anomaly," due to an increase in federal grants as well as that year's tuition rates. Christine Thompson, vice president of government relations for the regents, told the paper that the figure is now closer to 25 percent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27...04731.html

[sandnsea]

Do I understand this? Pell Grants were raised to $5500 so Arizona's response is to raise tuition above that amount so students are right back in the same boat they were in before the Pell Grant was raised?? Is that what this article is saying?

[NJMaverick]

(02-28-2012 09:49 AM)sandnsea Wrote:  Do I understand this? Pell Grants were raised to $5500 so Arizona's response is to raise tuition above that amount so students are right back in the same boat they were in before the Pell Grant was raised?? Is that what this article is saying?

Near as I can figure the AZ Republicans didn't like poor people attending college for free. so now everyone has to pay a minimum of $2000 a year regardless of economic need.

[Brewman_Jax]

Sounds like a repub, only a bit more polite than the norm. What they really want is an economic underclass (repubs don't like black and brown people, but they want more people to look down on) that's too stupid to vote against them, but smart enough to dig ditches and dump trash.

[Dimwitted Fool]

In the 1850's NYC started what became City College, and eventually the City University, for struggling poor, bright, and largely immigrant students. It was free, and at one point the standards were high enough that it was called "Harvard on the Hudson." Ed Koch, Colin Powell, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Bertrand Russel went there, and it leads the pack with 19 Nobel laureates (including, mumble, mumble, Henry Kissinger) among its alumni.

Lots of things happened since the 60s when I went there, like charging tuition, but it still claims the function of educating those who can't afford NYU or Columbia.

Where the hell are the voices of those who believe in education? Where are those who will speak for anyone who can't afford private schools or colleges? Bernard Baruch was a CCNY graduate and sponsored many of its programs. One of the colleges is now named for him. The first President of City College was a civil war general who won the Medal of honor for his actions at Gettysburg.

We are becoming a very cold country, and we can't blame it all on the 1% or silly teabaggers.

[azmouse]

Quote:In 1910, while crafting what would become Arizona’s constitution, the framers realized their new state could not flourish without an educated population, one that was homegrown, like the vegetables in their gardens.

So they created a public school system, up to an including a university, and wrote in Article 10, Section 6:

“The University and all other state educational institutions shall be open to students of both sexes, and the instruction furnished shall be nearly free as possible.”

It was a bold promise, and wise, and the people now in office want to reverse it.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/EJMontini/

[jaxx]

The repubs are now alienating potential students because they are poor. I hope this shows up in the election because they will do nothing but drive those in need farther down.