Comments

2
It's only underfunded because they keep jacking up tuition, since the share of funding to the Unis is about half what it used to be.
3
I got to go to the University of Michigan because of Michigan's equivalent MET program. I couldn't have afforded it otherwise, and I would be in so much more debt if it weren't for the MET. It's not only a great peace of mind for parents, it's a way for students who couldn't otherwise afford great schools to go to their best option. And beyond that, for the state, it's a great way to make sure that smart kids that can get into the best schools of your state stay in state instead of having a brain drain. I'm a bit of an exception, but most people stay in the area of their undergraduate institution.
4
@1 At the time we purchased our daughter's GET units, the premium above the existing tuition price was based on their anticipated return on their investments, plus the assumption that tuition would continue to inflate at the historic rate of about 5.5 percent a year. It's the 14%, 14%, 21%, 21% tuition hikes that have thrown off their balance sheet, and these tuition hikes were due to the legislature slashing funding for higher education.
5
Yeah, some peace of mind. How many legislative sessions do you have to bite your nails through before you get what they promised you? It only takes one crazed majority in Olympia to renege on the deal and leave you holding the bag.

Oh, I know the law says they can't do that to you, but they make up the law as they go. Enjoy your peace of mind.
6
@4 Clearly @1 doesn't understand your post in the slightest. You've explained it quite clearly, especially in other recent posts about state education funding.

If the legislature had kept state college funding levels consistent, your $42/unit price would return more like $52/unit now, which wouldn't be unreasonable. But state college tuition costs double what it did a decade ago, mainly because the levels of state funding have dropped.

In the sense that GET is an investment: You bought options in a market completely controlled by the state, and the state fucked up that options market badly by playing both sides of the deal poorly.

If the state legislature fucks GET up again, it will certainly hurt the state's bond rating. These are the kinds of things that credit rating agencies look at.
7
Why the fuck are we making educating ourselves so goddamn complicated? Net net it's all the same costs and all the same society wide gains so remind me again why the hell can't we just all pay a tiny bit more in taxes each year instead of coming up with complicated ways to do essentially the same damn thing.

The right has adopted a myopic focus on the small percent of people who choose to opt out of normal adult life in terms of everything from health care to birth control, to education at the expense of, not mandating mind you, but just making easier those things that almost everyone with any sense thinks are good. Being healthy, being educated, and being in control of your own body.
8
@5 It's a contract. The state constitution prohibits passing a law that abrogates a contract.

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