By Ron Bancroft
Thank goodness for Harold Alfond. Just when the signals for Maine’s economy were looking bleak, just when we all were in need of a boost fitting of the holiday season, along comes the
Harold Alfond College Challenge.
Thanks to an extraordinarily generous bequest from the late Harold Alfond, all babies born in Maine from 2009 until forever will receive a $500 tax-advantaged college savings account. The
program will start this January in two hospitals in Central Maine and will expand statewide by Jan. 1, 2009.
Think about this: Every child in Maine will get a significant at birth boost toward a college career.
This is big in several ways: First, with normal compounding just this bequest will quadruple in value by the time the child is ready to go to college. Second, the gift is meant as an incentive
to parents to add a small weekly or monthly contribution to their child’s account.
Adding just $50 a month would mean that the fund would grow to over $25,000 by age 18. This is the power of Alfond’s simple idea. Think of how this can change the game for many, many
families in Maine. It can truly be transformational.
From their children’s birth, parents will start thinking about how to provide for their children’s continuing education, and will have the means and incentive to get this process started.
From the Beginning
The Alfond Foundation will work with the Maine Compact for Higher Education to develop programs to educate parents about how important this trust can be for their children’s future
education, about how they can make regular contributions, and also about how they should manage this investment.
The Alfond Foundation expects to expend $7 million to $9 million annually to fund this program. What a fine way to carry on the legacy of an extremely generous and public spirited man.
This is the kind of program that sets Maine apart as a leader nationally in encouraging post-secondary education. When put alongside another distinctive, ground-breaking program,
Opportunity Maine, we start to build on the positives that can attract people to our state.
Opportunity Maine is another new first-in-the-nation initiative that expands educational opportunity by helping post-secondary students pay off their college loans through tax
credits, provided they complete their education and stay in Maine.
Upon graduation with a bachelor’s or associate’s degree from a Maine college or community college, any participant who continues to live and work in Maine can claim a tax credit equal to the amount of any educational loan payments, subject to some annual limitations.
In fact, the average graduate with a decently paying job will be able to pay off her or his college loans completely by means of taking these tax credits annually for perhaps seven to 10 years.
To the Finish Line
Moreover, by requiring an associate’s or bachelor’s degree to trigger the tax credit, the program should stimulate college completion.
As the financial burden is one of the principal factors identified as a barrier to students going on in post-secondary education, Opportunity Maine provides a path to keeping this indebtedness
manageable.
Finally, Opportunity Maine provides a tax credit opportunity to the student’s employer if the employer provides tuition reimbursement.
This is yet another game-changing program, really quite extraordinary. It is surprising to me that relatively little has been made of this gem since its approval last summer.
Opportunity Maine together with the Alfond College Challenge make the case that Maine is a state truly committed to building the most highly educated workforce in the country. Both of these programs are unique, comprehensive, and exciting. They break new ground in post-secondary education.
These are the kinds of programs that bring to mind the suggestion of Seymour Pappert, a brilliant technology educator and the father of Maine’s laptop program, that our license plate
should read, “Maine: The Learning State.”
Does this seem audacious? You bet. However, thanks to Alfond and programs like Opportunity Maine we can rightly lay claim to this distinction.
Let us move the national focus from Maine as a high tax state to Maine as a state of particular education opportunity. Now there is something positive for the New Year!
