The new federal tax break scholarship program that is expected to become law soon is poorly designed and will not give much help to low-income people--the group that needs it most, according to James Colliton, a professor who specializes in tax law at DePaul University's College of Law.

President Clinton is expected to sign the tax break scholarship bill into law this week.

"This program will give money away in the form of tax breaks without regard to whether the recipients need help," Colliton said. "Although the tax breaks will not go to the very richest people, they will go mostly to well-off folks. The tuition credits will give the poor and the well-off tax payers the same amount without regard to whether well-off people need help at all."

In addition, Colliton made the following points about the program:

• By giving students a tuition subsidy, the government is encouraging universities to raise tuition by the amount of the students' tax savings.

• The government could effectively help education in two ways: a tax-and-spend proposal for liberals or a trickle-down-economics proposal for conservatives. Either one of these is better than the present plan, according to Colliton.

• The politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, have decided to have this program run by the IRS. "We should not have an educational welfare program run by an agency whose fundamental strategy is terror," Colliton said.

Note to reporters: Colliton can be reached at DePaul at (312) 362-6179.