Corzine - Higher Ed Aid Focus is Wrong

In a recent discussion about higher education issues Jon Corzine said

"If we are of finite resources, I put the greater emphasis on aid grants than any of the others," he said. "If we keep those with limited resources from accessing to higher education, we are just perpetuating the status quo to who has opportunity in our society."

While this is a noble sentiment, one of the larger Higher Education issues in New Jersey is that we don't keep our best and brightest home. A large portion of the smartest high school seniors leave NJ for better known schools in other states. The reasons for this are many. Children want to leave for more "exotic" locals and our state schools have a reputation as being crowded with poor administrative services. But, one of the top reasons the best and brightest leave is financial. As a middle class, top achieving student in NJ the aid offered from Rutgers is small enough that any out of state school that offers a significant scholarship creates a situation where for a few thousand dollars more the student can go to a more elite school.

Once our children leave for other areas, they tend to stay and get jobs in those areas. The brain drain is significant.