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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
07/27/2024 06:17 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20230&cosponId=38186
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House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: December 5, 2022 10:08 AM
From: Representative Eddie Day Pashinski
To: All House members
Subject: Burden-Free Community College for PA: The Delayed Payment Plan
 
Student debt is crushing Pennsylvania’s higher education students and discouraging young people from pursuing a degree that can significantly increase their ability to find a good job. Meanwhile, well-paying jobs go unfilled across the state because we don’t have enough workers with the education needed to fill those roles.
 
This is unacceptable. Every Pennsylvanian should be able to continue their education without fear of taking on outrageous amounts of debt. That’s why I am introducing legislation establishing a Delayed Payment Plan (DPP), allowing students at any of Pennsylvania’s 15 state community colleges a chance to complete their two-year degree or certificate program in a high-need career path and land a steady job before having to begin repaying their tuition – INTEREST FREE – over the next ten years. THIS IS A PRACTICAL, INNOVATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE PROPOSAL TO FILL COUNTLESS JOBS WHILE PROVIDING THE GRADUATE A REASONABLE PATH TO RE-PAY THEIR STUDENT TUITION.
 
Without onerous debt payments, graduates and students will have more money to support their families, purchase a home, and help grow Pennsylvania’s economy. According to one study, “adding one year to the average years of schooling among the employed in a metropolitan area is associated with an increase in real GDP per capita of 10.5 percent, and an increase in real wages per worker of 8.4 percent.”
 
It’s time for Pennsylvania to take the lead when it comes to addressing the student debt crisis, while simultaneously providing a better-educated workforce for employers.
 
Please join me in supporting this important legislation to remove financial barriers for prospective students and help Pennsylvanian’s get better jobs and improve the economic health of communities across the state.