"Last dollar," KEES and private institutions

The Chamber of Commerce has proposed a college affordability approach where, after students and parents contribute what they can, and Pell grants are factored in, the state pays the remaining costs of attending a public institution. I blogged on the main idea earlier today, and now I want to add two more features of the idea.

First, KEES money could be used to meet the students' contribution. That is, while they'd need to contribute the dollar amount they could earn with summer and school-year jobs, they could raise some of that amount by meeting KEES requirements in high school.

Second, if a student chose a Kentucky private college, the state would pay the same amount there as it would contribute for going to a public program. (I'm the wife of a Centre professor and the daughter of a former Berea dean, and that caught my eye right away.)