Lottery, Gambling May Pay For Michigan's Student's Tuitions

Gambling News - September 16th, 2009 - Written by Glen

Representative Fred Durhal of Michigan announced a plan on Monday. His plan? The funding of college tuition on a state wide level. The first thing that would pop into most minds upon hearing such a statement is whether or not there would be a tax hike. No, there would not. His plan is to utilize lotteries and casino's revenues to help fund the tuition for students around the state.

The plan is expected to be posted on the November 2010 Ballot. This would require legislative action or a public petition, but either way, the people will have their say.

Three separate lotteries are on the plan. These lotteries would be built solely to fund the tuition. The plan will also skim 1% of the top of the state's casino's gross receipts. Donations from tax refunds and other entities are also expected to aide in the advancement of the state's higher educations.

Safeguards are in place to prevent an out of state resident from moving to Michigan in hopes to exploit the free tuition. To begin, a student must have been a resident and student in Michigan for five consecutive years. No pauses, no breaks, just a constant resident of the State of Michigan. High school students must also graduate with a minimum of a 2.5 cumulative GPA, in order to assure that the money will not be squandered on a failed or trivial student. Students receiving the grant will also be required to perform a year's worth of public service, which may include visiting their high school's to aid underachieving students in reaching adequate GPA's. Further restrictions will prompt graduating students to find a job within Michigan, or perform more volunteer work for the region in which they relocated.

The plan will cost nearly $2 billion over four years, and the current outline covers the majority of the funds, though businesses within the state are urged to help pick up the remainder, as they too stand to benefit from the surge of educated employment.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

To discuss this and other Entertainment related articles, drop by our brand new forum at :
https://www.usaplayers.com/forums/