If you want to support our Montana students, here is an important decision and vote which only comes around every 10 years!
When voting in November, you will have a choice to support the renewal of the 6-mill levy for Montana’s higher education system (LR 128).
Access and affordability for all Montana students is central to the intent and purpose of the 6- mill levy and a positive vote strongly reaffirms your support of Montana’s public colleges and universities.
There are two interesting facts that make this more important now than ever:
Fact 1: Voters have approved this mill levy every 10 years since its inception in 1948 but lately support has shown a decline.
Since 1948 the state of Montana has provided money to Montana’s Higher Education system in order to support and manage student tuition costs for Montana’s in-state resident students.
Fact 2: Between 2008-2016, 14 million jobs were created in the United States. The majority of these jobs required a 2-year associate degree or 4-year college degree.
This directly impacts who will be eligible to compete for those new, higher educational jobs.
By 2022, the US will have 161 million jobs, an increase of 12 million in four years.
Great news, but the jobs requiring higher education are going to increase at a much higher rate (14 percent) than jobs requiring only high school diplomas (eight percent).
So how do we continue to assure that residents of Montana are able to afford Montana’s higher education system so that they can have the opportunity to compete for the fastest growing, highest paying jobs in the future?
By supporting and approving the 6-mill levy. Everyone will benefit. Look around your community and the state, you see men and women in fields such as education, business/entrepreneurship, engineering, health/dental care, agriculture, forestry and public services who attended one of our institutions and have been instrumental in making Montana a great place to live.
By approving the funds for our Montana Education system, across all 11 campuses in Montana, together we will keep the in-state resident tuition at a more manageable level for our Montana children. If the 6-mill levy fails, the students and families will see a 15 -18 percent increase in their tuition cost per year, for the next 10 years making it more difficult for many Montana families to afford a two- or four-year degree.
We all have choices to make and this one is a slam dunk for me. If we in Montana want to continue to compete for jobs, the best way is to help assure that we have a strong, healthy and affordable university system that continue to produce the top notch graduates we have had in the past and look forward to graduating in the future.
Please help support the 6 Mill levy on Nov. 6th!
You will make a difference for all Montanans throughout our next decade.
Thank you,
Helene Michael
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