In a world where knowledge is synonymous with empowerment, access to quality education shouldn’t be a privilege confined to the few who can afford it. However, the soaring costs of collegiate education have increasingly pushed it beyond the reach of many aspiring students, casting a shadow over the promise of a brighter future. It’s time to address this pressing issue head-on and pave the way for a more equitable educational landscape.
To accomplish this, 2 things are extremely important. First, people must be informed about the alarming rise of tuition prices so that they understand the urgency of this issue. Second, it is pertinent that those reading this article attempt to reach out to lawmakers and government officials that can make my policy proposal a potential reality. If enough public support is fostered for my proposal, lawmakers may take it into consideration when creating legislation, such as our local state senator Nathalia Fernandez, which could help it become a reality.
My policy proposal in question is this: a law that would implement a maximum price ceiling on tuition prices per semester for collegiate institutions within NY state, with the addition of increased tax rates being levied against schools for each student attending the college that pays 90% or more of the aforementioned maximum tuition, as well as implementing decreased tax rates for each student that pays less than 90% of this maximum tuition. Those decreased rates will also act as a proportional system, wherein the less any given student pays under 90%, the less the school will have to pay in taxes. To elaborate, for each student paying tuition less than 90% of the set maximum, the school will receive a small decrease to their tax rate. Once this small decrease is compounded incrementally by combining the collective decreases that each individual student paying less than 90% of the maximum would grant to the school, it could result in a sizable overall tax decrease for the school. However, this depends completely upon how willing that school is to lower the tuition of students. The purpose of these tax rate manipulations are, albeit in a “big stick”-esque manner, to discourage schools from simply charging whatever the set maximum price ceiling will be, while simultaneously encouraging them to go lower than the 90% threshold to receive benefits as opposed to only avoiding penalties. This policy was conceptualized in order to aid students amid inflation and other economic pressures that already affect them, so those clauses just provide colleges with both negative and positive incentives to do so.
By calling the local state senator office, emailing representatives of the district 34 state senator Nathalia Fernandez, or even reaching out to our representative in congress, Rep. Jamal Bowman, and expressing support for this policy to become law, it could be eventually brought up in official channels. Now, while lawmakers may tweak and alter it in order to make it more feasible when it is passed, it is still important that the general idea makes it to a legislative stage, so that students all across the state and maybe even eventually the country can afford to receive the high quality education they deserve. Thank you.
