Between school, her work-study at Mercer’s Trenton campus library, taking care of her elderly mother and sick father and her position as president of the Student Executive Council, Kulubo Koro, an education major, doesn’t have a lot of time.
At one point she was working two jobs. She says, “I didn’t rest much, but I couldn’t complain because…you know you have to sacrifice to get to a certain point. If I don’t sacrifice now I won’t have my education and quitting school is not an option.”
Koro isn’t alone. In a survey of 50 Mercer students, 25 from the West Windsor campus and 20 from the Trenton campus, The VOICE found that 80 percent of both West Windsor students and Trenton students work either full or part-time to afford tuition.
On the campaign trail Governor Phil Murphy promised free community college tuition for all. At a roundtable with students at Mercer on April 5, he reaffirmed that commitment.
With him was Mercer president Dr. Jianping Wang, acting NJ Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis and Assemblyman Dan Benson of New Jersey’s 14th legislative district. They were joined by a panel of seven student representatives selected by the administrators to share what free college tuition would mean to them.
The hour long session included the governor’s presentation of a key measure of his current budget proposal that awaits legislative confirmation. The program will dedicate $50 million to provide what he described as “a major down payment” in an effort to make community college free for all students within three years, a project he said would cost $200 million in total.
He explained that $45 million of that would give free tuition to those with annual household incomes below $45,000.
The VOICE survey found that 36 percent of West Windsor campus students and 75 of Trenton campus students are from households below that line, which would qualify them for Murphy’s proposed plan.
At the roundtable the Mercer representatives, from older returning students to those straight out of high school, voiced support for the plan, saying it would have made their own ability to get through school easier had it been available.
Jennifer Eng, Student Government Association President, said, “If I was to go off my own experiences, [free tuition] probably would have allowed me to go full-time at school instead of working part-time and going to classes part-time, which condenses the timeline of graduation.”
Murphy responded saying, “I’m a big believer that education ought to be a right, not a privilege…I think you heard a whole lot of stories about life challenges, a lot of work, a lot of extending their years in school because they had to work to afford it.”
The issue of colleges affording the possible influx of students was brought up.
Murphy explained that the other $5 million allocated in the budget would be split by the 19 state community colleges to help them handle the likely increase in enrollment.
In an interview with The VOICE following the roundtable, Dr. Wang was asked if she was worried the facilities would be unable to cope with the increased student population. She said, “[I am] not worried about that, I would love to have enrollment b
oom because the college revenue right now, 51 percent of our college revenue comes from enrollment. So enrollment declines very much hurt the college because the buildings still have to be maintained.
English Professor Dr. Barbara Hamilton says, “I hope they use [the money given to the school] for more full-time faculty and not for more administrators or staff members since all the research shows that students who make a personal connection with a faculty member are more likely to finish courses and finish their degrees.”
In a paper by researchers at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, it was stated that “students’ decisions to persist or withdr
aw from college depend on their successful academic and social integration within the college. Part of this successful integration was dependent upon the favorable daily interactions between faculty and students.”
Jack Tabor, Professor of English at Mercer says, “I think making community college more accessible to more students is very important, however, while I think it sounds good…I worry about the numbers and how we would pay for it. I worry about what programs would have to be cut in order to find the funding to keep the school going because that revenue has to come from somewhere.”
Murphy stated at the round table that the funding was coming from the budget, and will not be tied to additional funding from sources like lotteries like Tennessee uses to fund its free community college program.
During his budget address on March 13, Murphy said that the budget will increase its revenue by imposing a “millionaires’ tax,” which would raise taxes for those making over a million dollars, and increasing the sales tax to 7 percent, a 0.375 percent increase.
Sixty percent of West Windsor campus students and 45 percent of Trenton campus students said they would support free community college if those measures were taken.
On the survey, an anonymous communications student wrote, “I absolutely love it. Although sales tax would slight [sic] increase, everyone would have the opportunity to get a degree no matter income status.”
Senate Leader Stephen Sweeney (D) has objections, however. “I’m of the mindset that we are not going to raise taxes,” he said at a press conference in February, according to an article by Politico.
Sweeney decides which bills are brought before the state Senate, without his approval any changes to taxes cannot be approved, leaving the future of free community college in question.
Senate Republican leader Tom Kean agrees with the sentiment. In a statement released in response to Murphy’s Mercer event, he said, “No government-funded program is free. Taxpayers always pay the price and frankly, people in New Jersey pay far too much already.”
He continued, “What we shouldn’t do, is force overtaxed families to pick up the tab for Governor Murphy’s spending-spree.”
Some students are opposed to the idea of free community college too. Chris B., a Liberal Arts major, wrote on a survey, “Who is paying for this? Nothing is free.”
Another student wrote, “I believe that it will be greatly beneficial for those who hail from a household that is low income. It may also be a great disadvantage as there will definitely be students who will take the opportunity for granted, therefore wasting taxpayer’s [sic] money.”
Faculty had their own concerns about the implementation of the plan. Dr. Carol Bork of the English department told The VOICE, “It’ll be hard to create a plan that gives everyone a fair chance and lots of second chances but doesn’t allow people to game the system.”
Dr. Leonard Winogora, adjunct professor and on-site coordinator for William Paterson at Mercer, says, “I favor [free community college tuition], but I want to make sure it’s not just a giveaway…Like all financial aid, tuition should be based on an accepted level of academic performance.”
Koro mentioned to The VOICE about others she knows who have struggled with work and school, saying, “A lot of people [drop out of school], my best friend who’s a single mom started school and she stopped. When you have to think about what comes first, ‘I have to feed a child. I have to feed myself or go to school,’ you don’t think that school is like that important you’re like that can hold off, I need to go to work.”
Dr. Wang addressed situations like that at the roundtable, saying that although community colleges have low graduation rates, it wasn’t because of the students themselves.
“It’s not that they are not intellectually capable, not personally committed,” she explained, “it’s just that the financial burden takes them away.”
Governor Murphy agreed, concluding, “You look at a budget of 37.4 billion dollars, which is the budget that we presented, and you think that a very modest fraction of that will have an impact like the one we’re talking about, I think that may be the best investment that I know of.”
