University of Delaware has $22.5 million plan for free tuition for lower-income students
Scott GossUniversity of Delaware officials want state taxpayers to cover tuition costs for in-state students whose families earn less than $75,000 a year.
University President Dennis Assanis on Thursday asked lawmakers to increase funding to the school by $22.5 million in total over the next four years — money that would make the tuition cost for a four-year degree essentially free for some 550 local students a year.
“As Delaware’s flagship university, we’re committed to making education affordable for our in-state students and increasing our enrollment of Delawareans,” he told the Legislature’s budget-writing committee.
Officials at the school, which boasts an endowment of almost $1.6 billion, estimate the proposal would cost taxpayers about $9 million a year in the fourth year. They suggested the funding be phased in by adding $2.25 million to UD’s state funding each of the next few years.
So, in the second year, $4.5 million would be added, then $6.75 million the third year and $9 million the fourth year, which comes to $22.5 million.
That proposal did not appear to be well-received by some lawmakers.
“We’re going to make it free by taking it out of taxpayers’ pockets,” said state Sen. David Lawson, R-Marydel. “That’s socialism, plain and simple.”
UD officials contend the plan would help the state’s largest institution of higher learning provide bachelor’s degrees to more minority and low-income students.
The university, they said, already has increased the number of freshmen from Delaware by 9 percent since 2014, even while raising the cost of in-state tuition to $13,680 — a 13-percent jump over the same time period, according to school officials. That does not include standard room and board of nearly $13,000.
As those prices have increased, the number of in-state students who need financial assistance also has been on the rise. More than 1 in 4 local UD undergrads now qualify for federal student aid — three times the rate of students from outside Delaware.
To help those students, the university offers about $28.5 million in scholarships that are funded through an uneven mix of school revenue and state taxpayers dollars.
Over the last five years, UD has more than doubled the money it sets aside for that financial aid to $18.1 million while the state support has remained flat at $10.4 million.
Assanis wants the state to increase that funding while Gov. John Carney is taking a more conservative approach. The governor last month proposed increasing the state’s share for in-state scholarships by nearly $1.2 million.
UD is hoping the Legislature — which approves the state’s final spending plan — will overrule him by adding at least $1 million more this year and slowly ratcheting that increase up to $9 million by 2024.
Lawson was not the only Joint Finance Committee member who seemed reticent to give the university more money beyond the $122.7 million in total funding proposed by the governor — a 3.4 percent increase over this year.
Several Democrats on the 12-member panel cited concerns over the rapid growth in UD’s tuition, introductory-level classes with close to 200 students and the large number of competing demands for the state’s limited resources.
“I’m not opposed to giving an education to those who need it,” said state Sen. Bruce Ennis, D-Smyrna. “My concern is with higher education and public education this year alone, 40.9 percent of the total budget is going just for those two items.”
JFC will continue its budget hearings next week with appearances by the Delaware State University, the Department of Correction, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, among others.
A final spending plan is expected to be approved in late June.
Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.
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