Hildreth Institute in The Boston Globe

Advocates call for more ‘millionaires tax’ money to be spent on higher education

This article originally appeared in The Boston Globe.

Roughly 10 percent of the $3 billion collected last year under the Fair Share Amendment went toward higher education

A budding coalition of higher education advocates called on state leaders, in a report out Thursday, to allocate more money from the so-called “millionaires’ tax” to students at Massachusetts public colleges.

The state collected almost $3 billion last year under the Fair Share Amendment, which assesses a 4 percent tax on incomes over $1 million, to be spent on education and transportation. But only about 10 percent of it was allocated to higher education in the state budget, which is “insufficient” for public colleges, said Bahar Akman Imboden, managing director of the university research group Hildreth Institute.

“We want to make sure the ... investment to higher education is not squandered and goes towards all the pieces students need to succeed in college — the right curriculum, support services, and basic needs like stipends for food and transportation,” Imboden said. “The weight of the programs will collapse on their own otherwise.”

There is some proof of that in the data: Most jobs in Massachusetts will require a college diploma by 2031, but too few young people are equipped to meet that need, the Thursday report contends. Fewer students are graduating from public universities than in the 2010s, and the share of Massachusetts high school graduates immediately enrolling in college is down by nearly 10 percent since 2018.

Amidst that trend, Massachusetts tripled its state financial aid programs, discounted tuition for in-state students, and launched free community college.

But the gains from those moves are at risk of being erased, said Jennie Williamson, state director of EdTrust in Massachusetts, one of six advocacy organizations that authored the report.

Advocates also point a finger at the federal government, which this year cut some financial aid and rescinded Department of Education grants for campus resources dedicated to disadvantaged students. That adds to decades of waning investment from the state, where per-student spending has fallen by 20 percent over the last 20 years. It all leaves public colleges in a difficult position, advocates said: desperate to maintain (and increase) enrollment, without adequate funds to shepherd more students through to graduation.

Even free community college in Massachusetts, for example, has drawn thousands back to campuses statewide, but many low-income students remain on the hook for an average of $11,000 in costs that are not covered by their state-funded stipends, according to the report. This includes expenses like housing, food, and other basic necessities.

“Investments in access — making students get in the door — are wasted if we are not making sure they get over the finish line with a degree in hand,” Williamson said. “State leaders have taken historic steps to lay the foundation for a more accessible, inclusive, and affordable public higher education system, but this progress faces serious challenges.”

Now advocates argue that more of the tax dollars should fund increased stipends for low-income students, which amount to $1,200 or $2,400 per person; a centralized data center that tracks Massachusetts’ education and career statistics; and additional staff for academic advising and support services across campuses, among other measures.

Participants of SUCCESS, the existing state support program for community college students, are more likely to continue their education and graduate, the report says. But only 8 percent of eligible students are served by the initiative, which is funded by $14 million divided among 15 campuses.

The report also lists recommendations that could lower the cost of higher education further, including expanding non-degree credentials, nontraditional coursework that can help people secure jobs without a diploma, and requiring high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

“Getting students in the postsecondary door is a critical, initial step in a much longer journey,” said Femi Stoltz, director of policy at uAspire, a financial aid nonprofit involved in the report, in a statement. “College has to be affordable; that is essential to getting students from enrollment to graduation.”