By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-886707.mp3
LANSING, MI – The state House and Senate subcommittees that determine the High Education budget are getting ready to discuss the future of student financial aid. Lawmakers also plan to begin negotiating soon on what will happen to the Michigan Promise college scholarship.
Governor Granholm called for the Promise scholarship, which was cut from the budget last year, to be reinstated as a tax credit instead of a grant. To qualify, students would have to work for a year in Michigan after they graduate.
Republican state Representative Jase Bolger agrees students should be encouraged to stay in Michigan. But he has a proposal that would offer students a forgivable student loan for five years of work in the state.
"We want to keep those students here, so it's a way to answer, to step in where the Promise Scholarship was, but also add the additional flexibility to keep those students here in Michigan."
The chairwoman overseeing the House Higher Education budget subcommittee says discussions will begin soon on the Promise scholarship.