By Todd Feathers

News Correspondent

Governor Deval Patrick hosted a conference call to discuss a variety of issues affecting college students in Massachusetts with representatives from six college newspapers Monday.
Patrick spoke at length about the rising prices of college tuition in Massachusetts and the efforts his administration has made to help students pay for college.
“There is a raging debate in higher education all around the country about a strategy that says go to the top of what’s tolerable in tuition and also raise financial aid, so that those who can pay, will, and those who can’t, will get adequate financial aid,” Patrick said. “It’s something that our several boards of the several colleges and universities … have been grappling with.”
According to The College Board, a non-profit organization responsible for the SAT, the average in-state tuition for public colleges in Massachusetts has gone up 12.1 percent (around $1000) over the past year, compared to the national average of a 6.4 percent increase. The average tuition for Massachusetts’ private colleges has gone up 3.9 percent (around $1300),  less than the national average of 4.3 percent.
Patrick questioned the role community colleges will play in the future.
“There is a raging debate … among community colleges,” said Patrick. “About whether the mission of community colleges is to be a two-year version of a four-year college or to be the work force development training hub for the regional economy.”
He went on to say he has asked Richard M. Freeland, commissioner of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and former Northeastern president, to “take a fresh look at the mission of community colleges, and at least ask the question whether we ought to pick one mission.”
Patrick also spoke about the possibility of increased T fares in the near future. He said cuts his administration had “taken steps to try and contain T fares,” but did not specify what those steps were. He passed much of the blame on to Republican canidate for governor   Charles Baker claiming the sales tax on transportation fares has been a direct result of the cost of the Central Artery/Tunnel Recovery project, commonly known as the “Big Dig.”
As budget chief under former governor William Weld, Baker played a key role in developing a plan to finance the project. According to a report released in 2000 by former inspector general Robert Cerasoli, the $14 billion dollar project was the most expensive urban highway project in American History.
Patrick cited the Higher Education Bond Bill, passed in 2007, and the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) as examples of how his administration has helped students pay for college.
The Higher Education Bond Bill allocated $2 billion over ten years to help public colleges afford high-quality facilities for their campuses.
The MEFA’s mission is to “help families plan, save and pay for college,” by “[offering] community education programs, college saving plans and low-cost financing options.” According to the company’s website. In its thirty years, MEFA has distributed $4.2 billion to students in need of financial aid.
Earlier Monday, Governor Patrick posted an open letter to the state’s “Engage!” blog imploring students to stay in Massachusetts after graduating.
In the letter, Patrick touts the state’s health care plan and improving business and job climates as reasons students should remain in the state after school. Patrick called students “the Commonwealth’s most valuable resource.”
During the phone call, Patrick also discussed the upcoming gubernatorial election. In recent weeks, polls have shown that  Baker has been closing the gap on Patrick.
A Boston Globe poll released two weeks ago had Patrick receiving 35 percent of the vote, Baker 34 percent, and other candidates, including independent candidate Tim Cahill, 15 percent, while 14 percent of voters remain undecided.
Patrick dismissed claims made by the Baker campaign that he had run wild with the budget, stating that his administration had “delivered four budgets that were responsible, valid and on-time,” and pointed out that under his administration Massachusetts has been “first in the nation in rate of job creation and student achievement at our public schools and health care coverage for our residents.”
The issue of job creation and unemployment has been one of the most important throughout the election, because of the current recession.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Massachusetts’ unemployment rate of 8.8 percent (as of August 2010) ranks twenty-sixth among states. The average unemployment rate for the nation as a whole in August was 9.5 percent.
“This is an election that is about a choice of values,” Patrick said in the interview. “It’s about whether we move forward or whether we go back to some old policies and some old ways.”