It's not just the economy that tops voters' concerns. The rising cost of college is a critical, yet largely overlooked issue for voters this election, according to a new National Education Association (NEA)/Project New West survey.
A college education is necessary to make ends meet in today's global economy, but those surveyed said struggling middle class families don't get the help they need to pay for it. Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed said it is more difficult now to afford a college education than it was 10 years ago.
According to the College Board, in 2007-08, average published tuition and fees for a 4-year public, in state is $6,185, for 4-year public, out of state it's $16,650 and for a 4-year private non-profit, $23,712. Two year public schools average $2,361.
"The data suggests that more low-income and minority students are enrolling in public community colleges than ever before, in part because of rising tuition costs and also greater competition for admission."
-Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Cost Project, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit organization that documents trends in college spending.
College costs have grown nearly 40 percent in the past five years. Between 2001 and 2010, it is estimated that 2 million academically qualified students will not go to college because they cannot afford it. Who does it hit most? Only 12 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of African Americans eventually earn a bachelor's degree - compared to 33 percent of White students. The rising cost of college is a factor in this disparity.
What's driving costs? The main factor causing public college tuition to rise so rapidly in recent years has been the slow growth in state appropriations for higher education, says Sandy Baum, senior policy analyst for The College Board. Other factors include the difficulty of raising productivity because of the nature of the educational process, health care costs, technology, energy, the changing nature of the services provided by colleges, the demand for better facilities and competition for students among colleges.
Funding Gaps
Prospective students and their parents are often too focused on the acceptance process and the prestige behind getting into a good college with little advance and realistic thought into the financial affordability of attending these institutions, says Nadine Lewis, director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. "Students and families tend not to plan early enough financially as they do academically," she adds.
Sure, there's financial aid, but it's not a panacea. "It's limited and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis," says Lewis. "In our current economy, more and more families are in need of aid, especially African-American and other minorities whose incomes often fall in the middle and lower income brackets. Colleges try to distribute financial aid resources to serve as many students as possible based on individual needs. But with less support from the government and more dependency on institutional endowments, colleges themselves are straining to assist these deserving students," says Lewis.
Some financial aid packages decrease in the sophomore, junior and senior years. Then too, some students also have a dual financial hardship of paying for college while sending money home to help their families survive. Or, they have a financial need that is not covered by financial aid and may not be able to secure support from home because all of the family income is used to support the household, she adds.
Critical Consequences
"If college costs continue to rise without any relief, then we might expect to see increased enrollments at community colleges and students sticking closer to home to reduce the cost."
- Daniel Bennett, Assistant director/research associate for The Center for College Affordability & Productivity in Washington, D.C.
How are students coping? Rising costs impact all students, but especially minorities. "Increasingly students are being forced to be creative with their finances, including taking out private loans. In the past 10 years, private loans have increased from 2.7 to 11.5 percent of student aid used to finance the cost of college," says Daniel Bennett, assistant director/research associate for The Center for College Affordability & Productivity in Washington, D.C. "If college costs continue to rise without any relief, then we might expect to see increased enrollments at community colleges and students sticking closer to home to reduce the cost," he adds.
Already there is some of that. "The data suggests that more low-income and minority students are enrolling in public community colleges than ever before, in part because of rising tuition costs and also greater competition for admission," says Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Cost Project, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit organization that documents trends in college spending.
Prospective students and parents must be better informed on the actual cost of college which goes beyond tuition, housing, books and dining fees. "Parents make a commitment to sacrifice everything to meet the student's financial needs, but sometimes that sacrifice is still insufficient to cover the costs. The family may struggle to get the student through a year or two and then find that they can no longer afford it and the student is forced to transfer to another college or leave school," says Lewis. In other cases, students will assume full responsibility for college on their own, taking on one or more jobs to do so. This can cause stress that impacts their ability to excel in college and further exacerbate the situation if they lose grants and scholarships when their grades decline.
Upromise, a Sallie Mae affiliate company, conducted a recent survey that showed African-Americans were more likely to cite financial hardship as the reason young people did not attend college or dropped out.
What the Presidential Candidates Say
What do the two presidential candidates have to say about college affordability? Plenty.
Barack Obama calls for a simplification of the federal financial aid process. He wants to make college affordable for all by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americas, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average college or university. Obama supports expanding Pell Grants for low-income students from roughly $4,000 to more than $5,000, so that the award keeps pace with the rising cost of college inflation.
His tax credit was a hit with those surveyed in the NEA poll. Nearly 2 to 1, they favored the $4,000 a year tax credit for tuition and fees if a student commits to giving 100 hours of public service each year.
John McCain's proposals call for simplification of higher education tax benefits because the existing ones are too complicated and many families who are eligible for them don't claim them. He also wants simplification of the federal financial aid programs. McCain supports reforming student lending programs, and proposes an expansion of the lender-of-last resort capability of the federal student loan system and will demand the highest standard of integrity for participating private lenders. He believes effective reforms and leveraging the private sector will ensure the necessary funding of higher education and a simpler and more effective program.
What can you do about college costs? "It is never too early and never too late to save for college," says Patricia Nash Christel, a spokesperson for Sallie Mae.
Adds Lewis, "Stay informed and be more active in the government relations/lobbying process regarding higher education funding on both the federal and state levels."
In other words, make some noise.
For more information:
www.deltacostproject.org
www.collegeboard.com
www.highereducation.org
www.collegeaffordabillity.net/research.php
www.thesalliemaefund.org/smfnew/scholarship_directory/index.html
