To the Editor:

All Connecticut residents deserve to pursue higher education regardless of their income.

Expanding the Mary Ann Handley (formerly known as PACT) tuition assistance program to the four Connecticut State Universities will allow students to achieve a bachelor’s degree free of debt.

When I first entered college, I was a year removed from dropping out of high school and still working 40 hours a week at Starbucks. I decided to give Western Connecticut State University a try, hoping that it would give me the skills and confidence necessary to forge a different path for myself.

Most of my tuition is covered by federal Pell Grants and scholarships, and what remains is paid for out of the kindness of my mother’s ex-fiancé. Through serendipity, I have this gift of financial assistance that I needed to take a chance. A chance not just on WestConn, but on myself as well. Today, I am just two years away from earning my bachelor’s degree in political science and I am on track to graduate in spring of 2027.

Those less fortunate than me are cut off from this opportunity. They have too many bills and too many obligations. There is no kind mother’s ex-fiancé to pay their tuition. There is not enough money to imagine a different path, nor enough money to take a chance on themselves.

I am here to tell you confidently that without this chance I would be burying myself in a minimum wage job – jumping from one employer to another indefinitely – void of the purpose for myself and determination to help others that I have forged during my short time at WestConn.

All Connecticut residents deserve this privilege, regardless of their income. The Connecticut legislature and Governor Lamont should include the expansion of the Mary Ann Handley Award in this year’s budget. If they do, a world of opportunity will open up for every Connecticut resident.

Kate Jackson

Newtown