Jim Alfredson

A conversation with my sisters after Christmas Dinner is still meandering around my head. This will be a bit long, so bear with me.

My second eldest sister started at MSU in 1990. She was able to obtain a small scholarship to pay for her first year ($4000). She worked full-time as a student at the NSCL on campus starting at minimum wage, which was $3.80 an hour. By the time her second year rolled around, she made enough money to pay for it herself. She lived at home, brought her lunch to work, and basically worked her butt off. She graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and was offered a job at the NSCL afterwards. She went to California for a bit, worked in the special FX movie business, then came back to Michigan and still works at the NSCL.

Five years later, in 1995, I attempted to do the same thing. I got a job at the NSCL for minimum wage, which was $4.25 an hour by this time. I didn't have a scholarship but I had saved up some money that summer to pay for most of my first semester. After my first semester, I quickly realized I couldn't afford to take a full credit load, so the second semester I took a half load.

My sophomore year, 1996, I had to do the same thing. Even after working all summer, full-time at the NSCL, I couldn't afford to take a full credit load.

What was the difference?

In 1990, the cost per credit hour at MSU was $65.25.

In 1995, the cost per credit hour had more than doubled to $136.75.

Remember, minimum wage rose a whooping 45 cents in 1991 and sat at that rate until 1997. It was raised to $5.15 in 1997 (I remember getting that wage rate increase) and stayed there until 2007. So 10 years. Guess how much a credit hour at MSU was by 2007?

$280 per credit hour. Or over 4X what it cost in 1990.

Right now it is $452 per credit hour. 7X what it cost in 1990. Minimum wage is $7.25, not even double what it was in 1990.

Do we see the problem?

My elder sister is college debt free. She was able to pay for her education at a Big 10 University thanks to a very kind man helping her get that one, small, $4000 scholarship.

My younger sister meanwhile, who attended college 10 years later, is saddled with over $100,000 in student loan debts.

This needs to change. It is abhorrent that in the richest country in the world, people cannot afford to continue their education. Brazil, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, France, Slovenia, Iceland... I'm sure I'm forgetting some... they all have free college education. And yes, I know free means it's paid for by taxes. That's what taxes are supposed to be used for, not subsidizing multi-billion dollar companies and further enriching the grotesquely wealthy or supporting the bloated defense budget.

Who is the only candidate talking about this right now? I think you know the answer to that one.