U.S. military veterans who live in Mercer County would get free tuition to Mercer County Community College under a proposal put forward by Lance Lopez Sr., who is seeking to fill a vacant seat on the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Lopez, who lives in Lawrence Township and is a U.S. Army veteran, is one of nine candidates who are hoping to be chosen by the Mercer County Democratic Committee to fill the vacancy on the county’s governing body which was created by the resignation of Anthony Verelli.
Verelli recently stepped down from his position as a freeholder to represent the 15th Legislative District in the state Assembly.
Lopez is one of two candidates for the freeholder board who live in Lawrence Township. The other resident is Township Councilman Michael Powers. The remaining seven candidates live in municipalities that include Ewing, Hamilton and West Windsor townships.
Lopez has proposed making veterans who live in Mercer County eligible for a full tuition waiver at Mercer County Community College. He has modeled his proposal after a similar tuition waiver program offered by the New Jersey National Guard. Lopez proposes making it available to all military veterans.
Noting that veterans have sacrificed themselves for the United States, New Jersey and Mercer County, Lopez said, “free tuition is a tool (the veterans) can use to learn new job skills and improve their lives.”
Covering the cost of tuition would help jump-start a veteran’s re-entry into the workforce and provide additional manpower to the economy, Lopez said. There are about 16,000 military veterans who live in Mercer County.
“We can do more for our veterans and free tuition is the first step,” he said.
It was not stated at this time how the cost of the tuition would be covered if veterans were permitted to attend the county college for free.