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Rep. McCrory Wants Towns To Offer College Aid

Bond sales could provide funding for municipal scholarships

Northend Agent's

February 4, 2009

State Representative Douglas McCrory, who represents Hartford, in the Connecticut General Assembly, is sponsoring legislation that would allow towns to fund college scholarship programs by selling municipal bonds.

McCrory’s proposal (HB5227), currently under consideration by the legislature’s Higher Education Committee of which he is a member, would enable towns to fund scholarships for residents attending Connecticut public colleges and universities.

“Everyone agrees on the important role higher education plays in future success, yet thousands of aspiring students cannot afford to go to college,” said McCrory, a vice-principal in the Hartford school system. “Our system is set up where each town provides educational opportunity thorough high school, so why not give towns a tool to help kids in their community reach their ultimate potential?”

McCrory believes municipal scholarships should be based on economic need and merit, and could be tied to criteria such as requiring students to reside or work in their hometown following college or performing volunteer community service locally.

According to the state Department of Higher Education, over the last decade, the number of low income students who cannot afford to contribute anything toward their college education has increased by 218%. “There are tens of thousands of families who have no means to send a child to college, and that trend has to change for us to make progress as a society,” McCrory said.

Rep. McCrory is serving his third term in the state legislature representing Hartford’s 7th Assembly District. In addition to serving on the Higher Education Committee, McCrory also sits on the Appropriations and Education Committees.