Murfreesboro Post - Cohen criticizes Haslam on Tennessee Promise

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is criticizing Gov. Bill Haslam's campaign on the Tennessee Promise and use of lottery money for free junior college tuition, saying it "siphons" money from the Hope Scholarship and helps only affluent and low-achieving students.

Some 35,000 students already have applied for the funds to attend community colleges across the state free of charge, nearly doubling the state's application goal of 20,000. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1.

"The governor's counting that toward his re-election campaign. It galls me because he just took lottery money that I helped secure with the passage of the referendum in 2002 and the efforts I put in in 18 years to pass a lottery amendment and the people who voted with me," Cohen, a Memphis congressman who previously served in the Tennessee Senate, said in an interview this week.

Cohen pointed out that in 2001 he secured the minimum number of votes, 22 in the Senate, for the two-thirds needed to put the lottery for education measure on the 2002 ballot. It also needed two-thirds of the House after getting majority votes in the previous session.

"He didn't pick up a penny. It's all lottery money," Cohen said. "It's really disingenuous for him to go around and say he's letting people go to college for free when (A) it's not his money. He didn't raise any money or give any money, and (B) made it more difficult for people at four-year colleges than junior colleges."

Cohen contends that students who qualify for the Pell Grant - their families must have incomes less than $42,000 - won't benefit much from the plan, nor will students who excel in high school and attend four-year institutions.

"The people who mostly benefit from his plan are people who didn't make the grades in high school and are higher than the average income," Cohen said. "That's not exactly who you should be looking to benefit in society, the low-achievers and the affluent. I think it's just a total sham."

Gov. Haslam, who was in Murfreesboro Wednesday for a ribbon-cutting at MTSU's science building, defended the program, which also requires applicants to:

• Fill out a federal application for federal student aid.
• Go to required winter and spring training sessions.
• Do eight hours of community service work.

"The Tennessee lottery program that Sen. Cohen passed is great, but since we put it in place and gave out about $2 billion in lottery-funded scholarships, we haven't increased the number of Tennesseans who are going to school," Haslam said.

If the state is to reach the Drive for 55 goal of 55 percent of adults obtaining college degrees or certificates, it must change strategies and reach out to students who originally felt college wouldn't be part of their future, he said. Haslam argued that most students who participate in Tennessee Promise will be the first ones in their family to attend college.

"I actually think this is a game changer, and it's the right way to use that money," he said.

Freshmen and sophomores attending four-year schools will receive $500 less in Hope Scholarship funds, $3,500, but juniors and seniors will receive $500 more.

Students who attend community college free for two years will have more money to apply toward their junior and senior years at four-year institutions, Haslam pointed out.

"This will help more Tennesseans get a college degree. The Hope Scholarship program's been great, but at the end of the day, more Tennesseans are not going to get a degree than they were before, and we have to address that," he said.

The governor, who is seeking election to a second four-year term, said the Tennessee Promise should help MTSU in the long term rather than hurt it.

"We'll have more people going into the funnel, more people who before said I'm not going to school beyond high school who now say I will," he said.

Haslam pointed out that a version of the program has been done in the Knoxville area for seven years and hasn't hurt four-year schools in that area. He added that enrollment is up 15 percent and most are first-general college students.

Cohen, however, contends that Tennessee Promise is a "last-dollar scholarship" because it is intended to provide financial assistance for students after all other gift aid is credited toward tuition and fees.

For instance, students can receive $5,730 in federal Pell Grants annually, far outstripping the total average of community college tuition and fees, $3,992.

If all other gift aid exceeds tuition and mandatory fees, then a student won't be eligible for the Tennessee Promise Scholarship, the law states.

In addition, Aspire Scholarship recipients at two-year colleges will begin receiving $250 instead of $750 under the Tennessee Promise law enacted last session.

Cohen also notes that Tennessee Promise is shifting money away from the Hope Scholarship because it's being paid for out of a lottery reserve account.

Starting in 2014-15, lottery funds in the education account exceeding $10 million are to be transferred annually to the Tennessee Promise scholarship account, the law states.

Cohen contends that as the Hope Scholarship is diminished it will be less attractive for keeping students here in Tennessee schools.

Statistics show junior-college graduates are less likely to get a four-year degree than those who start at four-year schools out of high school.

"You're not going to get more dreamers and thinkers because you're killing the four-year plan," Cohen said.

Tennessee hasn't increased the number of students attending four-year schools during the Hope Scholarship era because the Legislature has reduced higher education funding and tuition has increased almost yearly at universities, Cohen said.