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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Emergency Services District board says it won't levy maximum tax rate after all Since You Asked: No traffic signal slated at Main and Highland A test of mettle: GED tests are more rigorous Ashland gets new city parks director Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services All evacuation advisories lifted for Rogue River Drive fire Emergency Services Fire levels historic Phoenix house Medford rainfall hits record, halts fire Politics and Elections Commissioner Skundrick plans final four town hall meetings Medford eyes electronic sign visual pollution Medford council veterans plan exit Medical marijuana patients run for council seat Former colleagues laud Atiyeh's 'practical' leadership Education A test of mettle: GED tests are more rigorous Middle schoolers get a taste of college living Abraham Lincoln Elementary parents raise money for new playground State treasurer stumps for educational endowment measure Free meals program expands in Grants Pass Environment Stressed but off life support Rogue watershed councils plan to merge West Nile Virus found in mosquitoes collected near Central Point State news Nation - World Obituaries Clarence "C.A" A. 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State Treasurer Ted Wheeler is leading the charge to make Oregon the first state to create a perpetual investment trust fund for higher education, an endowment similar to those at Harvard, Columbia and Stanford, Wheeler told a Friday morning gathering of education, workforce and business leaders at Rogue Credit Union. Fewer lower income are entering and completing higher education studies, Wheeler said. For those who finish degree work, debt often accompanies diplomas. "Student debt is going through the roof," he said. "That is an issue for all of us, because the economic data coming out of the Federal Reserve now is indisputable. Student debt is slowing our economy, it's particularly impacting the housing sector. A key part of home building is first-time buyers." Millennials make up the majority of first-time home buyers, but they are financially unable to follow in their parents' and grandparents' footsteps. "This is the first generation of AWOL home buyers," Wheeler said. "They are AWOL because they are saddled with student debt. They are paying off their loans to the federal government and elsewhere, and they are not purchasing cars, not purchasing homes, they are not purchasing all the things you fill your homes with, because they can't afford to buy a home. That's having reverberations throughout the economy." Measure 86 would make it easier for the state to fund student aid as well as vocational and technical training at the community college level. Bonds historically have been used for construction, but Wheeler suggested the state needs to invest in things with lasting economic value. "An endowment seems different from building a building," he said. "I started to realize my frame was wrong. An endowment that is permanent, growing with time it takes advantage of compound earning. That endowment will grow into perpetuity; it is as solid and permanent as a building. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it's more solid and permanent because it's not a depreciating asset, it's an appreciating asset." He said endowment creation wouldn't undercut state university and community college capital projects. "We have a very conservative debt limitation," Wheeler said. "No more than 5 percent of the state's general fund can go to servicing general obligation debt. We don't even use all the capacity we have. I don't see the ferocious competition between capital dollars and bonding that might go to seeding this endowment." He said such funding would allow community college students to pursue technical and vocational training. The Treasurer said state could use a small portion of its bonding capacity to seed the endowment -- along with general fund appropriations in its early stages. "If we do these things," he said. "Over the long term, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, we would have a unique competitive advantage around workforce development -- a permanent source of workforce development not dependent on the Legislature in any way."   Presently, Wheeler said, only one in five students who apply and qualify for financial aid in Oregon get the help. "There is no guarantee they get it the next year, or the year after that," he said, because the state's income tax revenue is inconsistent and forecasts for future funding don't necessarily reflect future revenue. "It's a good thing to lift families and wages in this state," he said. "E conomic prosperity ultimately is going to determine whether or not your academic institutions are going to survive. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or email [email protected].                                                                By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 9, 2014 @ 2:00 am » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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