College costs have been brutal to students, as 45 states have worsened in terms of college affordability since 2008.
Rising prices, and the failure of financial aid to restrain them, has been rough on millennial students.
The study, from the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt Peabody College, and the Higher Education Policy Institute, found that a college education “is no longer affordable for many low- and middle-income students and their families.”
Financial aid has not offset tuition increases, working and studying simultaneously cannot cover expenses, and debt is the only option that can fill the money gap. For students, that means more pressure to graduate on time and find a job that can erase their education-related debts.
The most affordable states, according to the report, are Alaska, Wyoming, Hawaii, California, and New Mexico. The least affordable states are New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Vermont.
Federal government aid has steadily increased, but the report finds fault among the states.
“The federal government has expanded its commitment to ensuring that qualified students can afford higher education, but many state and institutional leaders no longer see it as their role to be meaningful partners in the federal government’s efforts,” William Doyle, co-lead author and an associate professor of higher education at Vanderbilt University, said in a press release.
More government aid, however, is a bigger culprit than a failure of states to commit to their higher education institutions. Student enrollments have been increasing for decades, though for-profit and community colleges have seen recent declines. In the last decade, tuition has climbed 40 percent.
Those prices have been fueled, rather than hampered, by easy access to financial aid. Colleges can charge higher prices, erect new building on campus, and offer services demanded by students and faculty, without the threat of enrollment decline. When students can pay more, universities charge more.
“Only 15 states improved on affordability measures for community colleges between 2008 and 2013” and “public, four-year institutions in just six states became more affordable during that period,” Inside Higher Ed noted.
College affordability is becoming a joke to low-income students. Wealthier students can bear the added burden, but for other students, it’s an insurmountable barrier.
“The deck is stacked against low- and middle-income Americans when it comes to paying for college. Sadly, this problem can only worsen when projecting into the future,” Joni E. Finney, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in the report.
It’s a pessimistic conclusion, but one that appears in line with reality, given the lack of scrutiny for federal financial aid.
