Money Should
Follow Students

I do not believe we should leash our students by restricting VSAC scholarships to Vermont colleges. 

I was born in Randolph and have settled here, but I had the freedom to earn my degree from an out-of-state college. According to VSAC's website:  "Our mission is to ensure that all Vermonters have the necessary financial and information resources to pursue their education goals beyond high school." That is what VSAC did for me, as a Vermonter. This should continue, with students unencumbered.

Our 17-year old son wants to study marine biology next fall, and this area of study is not offered in Vermont. Regardless, I believe he should travel from the comfort of his home state in order to gain perspective on the world, and his place in it.  

I would be thrilled if he stayed close to home forever, but to coerce him to do so would be selfish on my part. For our government to declare any of our students ineligible to receive VSAC scholarships—from the state where their parents are employed and pay taxes—is inappropriate. Those who are college-bound are already financially tempted by Vermont colleges, simply because the colleges themselves offer competitive in-state tuition rates.

The solution to a procedural problem is not to create a playpen for our young Vermonters and hope they don't crawl out and explore the world.  What is that old saying, "if you love something set it free, if it comes back..."

Barb Baumann

Randolph