High school valedictorians in the Bay State may be rewarded for their achievements by attending public and community colleges tuition-free. The state Board of Higher Education will probably expand the University of Massachusetts’ popular tuition waiver program that currently offers the top two students at each of state’s 400 high schools. The university’s $1 million investment in the program has already proved successful in attracting and retaining the state’s top students. In 1997, 87 students took advantage of the tuition waiver — that number nearly doubled to 153 in 2000.
This revised program provides students with an extra incentive to do well in school, especially for those whose families may have a hard time affording college tuition. Instead of being forced to choose schools based primarily on how much aid they receive, these students would have the option of choosing among the several state schools. Regardless of their families’ economic means, top students should be able to have a reasonable choice of schools, which this program makes possible.
Because this decision would encourage the best local students to attend state schools, it would improve the reputations of the schools. Because these students would have high grades and test scores, state schools would be able to boast about recruiting a highly talented applicant pool, which would strengthen the schools’ commitment to providing challenging courses and research possibilities for all their students.
It may promote a healthy competition among high schools to produce top students to participate in the program. Such a successful program may also influence the state’s private universities, which have experienced steady tuition hikes over the last few years, to do the same.
In addition, since students tend to stay in the region where they attend school, those students may contribute to the state’s economy and government. Recruiting top students to attend state schools would help the boost the overall student population at those schools. High school valedictorians may be able to attend other schools around the country and around the world and this attractive option may encourage students to choose state schools over other options.
The Board of Higher Education is making a decision that would benefit students, state schools and the state itself, and the Board should continue to expand access to higher education.
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