He also reminded the audience of his recent plan to help Alaska high school students get a break on tuition. In short, high school students who sign up for a rigorous course schedule and maintain a C+ average will get 50 percent off tuition at Alaska colleges and trade schools. A B average gets 75 percent off and A students get in-state tuition free.
During his talk, the governor said he got the idea from Louisiana where a similar program started about 19 years ago. He said that state benefited in several ways.
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With those kinds of results, the governor is clearly onto something.
By requiring the students to go to school in Alaska, Parnell believes they will tend to stay here after graduation, easing the “brain drain” from the state among young people.
So far so good.
There’s one final step that needs to be taken, however, if the governor and the rest of us want to keep sharp minds here: have jobs waiting for them.
While we are spending an estimated $400 million for the tuition break, we need to help entrepreneurs with low-income loans so we can start to diversify our economy.
Right now, the major employers are the military, resource extraction, tourism and government at all levels.
Alaskans need to start creating things people want. We need people who can market those things. We need people who can sell those things.
A recent Alaska Dispatch report gives an example of how this state is hard-pressed for entrepreneurs. In Dutch Harbor, they’re apparently burning fish oil as fuel at $5 a gallon when that same fish oil would go up to $1,000 a gallon if it was sold as a health supplement in capsules. But where will the money come from to front such a venture?
Getting an education is a good thing. Finding a use for it — here — is even better.
Comments
3 comment(s)Observer wrote on Oct 30, 2009 10:24 AM:
Mitch Walker wrote on Oct 30, 2009 6:19 AM:
Pete wrote on Oct 29, 2009 9:00 PM: