Bill Targets Uncertainty Over Md. College Tuition

Students Would Have 4-Year Plan

The daughter of a factory worker and a homemaker in a rural Illinois town, Heather R. Mizeur was the first in her family to attend college. She paid her own way through school, relying on a combination of part-time jobs, loans and scholarships.

"Each year, as college administrators finalized new rates, I lived on the edge," she said. "I never knew if the tuition hikes would be severe enough to force me out of school."

Now a Maryland delegate, Mizeur (D-Montgomery) has introduced legislation to make Maryland one of the first states to institute a long-term tuition plan for its public universities. If it passes, Mizeur's bill would permit undergraduates to lock into a four-year tuition plan, helping families budget for college costs and cushioning them against tuition increases.

The Maryland Truth in Tuition Act is gaining broad support from key legislators in the General Assembly. Mizeur was among several proponents who testified yesterday before the House Appropriations Committee.

The level of uncertainty regarding tuition costs is a "gut-wrenching" burden to middle-class families, Mizeur said.

"Without being able to budget for the entirety of their education, many students may begin school only to be unable to finish their education, losing out on the promised return on investment," Mizeur said.

She likened her tuition proposal to a fixed-rate mortgage.

"Just as adjustable-rate mortgages have turned out to be a bad idea in the housing market, adjustable-rate tuitions are a bad idea in higher education, too," Mizeur said.

About 77 percent of Marylanders support creating a long-term tuition plan, according to a statewide poll Mizeur recently commissioned from Gonzales Research.

The proposal is modeled after a plan introduced a few years ago in Illinois, which pioneered the long-term tuition plan in public universities.

Emily Herman, 18, a senior at Northwood High School in Silver Spring, testified in support of the bill.

"It is only fair to be able to anticipate what payments will be expected of us before we're bound to them," Herman said.