For Lauren Kent, a student at Jefferson Community College in upstate New York, the pursuit of higher education has been a long and difficult journey.
At age 17, without financial assistance from her parents, Kent was unable to justify taking on the large amount of debt required to earn her degree; therefore she joined the U.S. Navy. Waiting until her enlistment obligation was complete and starting a family further delayed her education goals. After facing various setbacks along the way, Kent is currently working towards a degree in molecular biology at the SUNY school, with the intent to attend medical school. On Tuesday, she testified before the Republican Policy Committee about the many difficulties millennials face on the path towards earning a college degree and gaining employment opportunities.
In addition to academic costs, navigating the complicated system of transferring credits from community colleges to 4-year universities, along with different state residency requirements and admission deadlines can all be barriers that prevent young people from getting the education they need to be competitive in the workforce.
“For the average millennial, the price of minimum higher education attainment means carrying overwhelming long-term debt with no guarantees of an easy transfer to higher education or graduate school, not to mention a poor employment climate post-graduation,” Kent said.
Kent is a constituent of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who chairs the Republican Policy Committee’s Millennial Task Force. Tuesday’s hearing was the fourth in a series on the issues of college affordability and completion.
It is important to note that the increasing amount of students who are unable complete their degrees on time are also facing additional costs.
A startlingly low 36 percent of students who enroll at 4-year flagship universities graduate on time, according to Complete College America President Stan Jones, another witness at the hearing. Just 13 percent of students enrolled in 2-year programs are able to finish their degrees on time.
Jones suggested colleges enforce a minimum of 15 credit hours per semester, which he said is the single most important factor that impacts whether a student is able to complete their degree on time.
This is a problem for low-income students in particular because Pell Grants only fund 12 credits per semester, which automatically puts these students on a 5-year plan to graduate.
Stefanik is also a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and is leading the effort to pass legislation on flexible Pell Grants. Her bill would make Pell Grants available to qualifying students all year around, to include summer classes, as well as increase the maximum Pell Grant award by 50 percent.
“We heard at this committee hearing about the importance of having year-round Pell to increase our college completion rates,” Stefanik said. “I also think that given some of the challenges that non-traditional students face, many want to finish their college degrees as fast as possible so year-round Pell will help them do that.”
Other possible solutions discussed at the hearing included expanding Indiana’s policy of sending out annual student loan debt letters to keep student informed about how much they owe, as well as increasing the use of digital tools like IU’s interactive MoneySmarts website with financial literacy courses and a podcast titled, “How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents.”
“I also think it’s important for millennials and for policymakers to have an understanding that higher education doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all,” Stefanik added. “So encouraging vocational and technical training, community colleges, 4-year universities, as well as graduate school — there are lots of different economic opportunities out there and making sure that there’s flexibility and access to those education models is important to me.”
