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Finance
College Costs
College is a major expense for families and students, with costs that have consistently outpaced inflation and family income growth heading into the 21st century. And with state budget cuts in recent years, complaints about the rising cost of college will only grow.
According to the annual College Board survey released in November 2003, the sticker price for public four-year institutions rose 14 percent in the 2003-04 school year, while tuition rose nearly 14 percent at community colleges as well. According to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, private school tuition increased six percent.
As middle-class families complain more about the cost of college, many schools are responding by adding more merit scholarships to attract bright students whose high grades and entrance test scores boost the college’s academic profile. And that only adds to the problem of changing financial aid patterns from grants based on equity to loans.
In fact, the Education Commission of the States warned in October 2003 that the country is facing a crisis of college access. And the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance warned in 2002 that if Congress and the states did nothing about it, millions of students could not afford college.
On the other hand, USA Today analyzed numbers and found that college tuitions actually dropped by a third for many students, many middle class because of tax credits and merit scholarships. The published “sticker price” of many public schools did not match what students actually paid, the article contended, so the expense so many parents fear is actually as not as high as anticipated, the report contended. However, USA Today did not present the numerical data used in its analysis.
Why are college costs increasing so fast? The answers vary, and researching them makes for a good story. Plenty of materials exist to help with examining increases at your institutions: documents and studies from the university, information provided to students and parents, minutes from the institutions’ board meetings, and position papers or other documents from the state higher education agency.
Ohio University economist Richard Vedder, writing for the American Enterprise Institute in June 2004, suggests that productivity at colleges has fallen while tuition has increased.
Some good questions include: Are universities too fat? Are they paying millions to wire dorms for computers and build luxurious sports facilities so they can compete for the most discriminating students? Do they have too many administrators with big salaries? How does the research/teaching mix affect funding? Are unions driving up salaries and benefit costs? How have state legislatures responded? Are universities merely catching up from the arid years of the late 1970s when inflation increased faster than tuition? Are tuition increases merely following increases in the availability of financial aid money? And are sharp increases unavoidable to some degree because colleges employ large numbers of well-paid professionals who expect their pay increases to stay ahead of inflation?
Some analysts have linked tuition hikes to increases in federal student aid money, an idea that many education officials go to great lengths to dispute. And critics have charged that colleges raise tuition to build prestige, working on the notion that parents believe more expensive schools are better. Officials at some elite colleges say that, even with their high tuition, parents are getting a bargain because the cost of educating a student exceeds the price families pay. Colleges say they fill the gap with endowment money and other private resources.
Many education officials acknowledge that they will have to put the brakes on cost increases if they want to avoid a backlash from politicians and the public. But they often add that they are going to have to find money somewhere to pay for essential but expensive technology projects, such as wiring dorms for computers.
Things to think about:
- How do tuition increases affect who goes to college? Are more bright students choosing public colleges? Are more students starting at community colleges and then transferring to four-year institutions? How do state policies and legislation affect the student mix? For example, is state aid favoring community vs. four-year schools?
- How are private colleges working with states or other public funding sources? Are your public universities developing joint programs with private industry?
- Are colleges dedicating more money in their own budgets or are their foundations providing more money for financial aid? When colleges increase their funding of financial aid, is more money going into need-based aid or merit scholarships? Does this reduce access for low-income students?
- Track tuition patterns at the campus you cover and compare them to similar or nearby schools. Where is the additional tuition money being spent? Is it tied to major projects that directly benefit students? Are top administrative or faculty salaries increasing at about the same rate as tuition? How are tuition dollars spent now as compared to 10 or 20 years ago? How are administrators or trustees justifying the increases?
Adapted from Covering the Education Beat on higher education costs.
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F. King Alexander
President
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, Calif.
Public Affairs 562-985-4134, 5454
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Dewayne Matthews
Senior Reserach Director
Lumina Foundation for Education
Indianapolis, IN
(317) 951-5763
dmatthews@luminafoundation.org
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Travis Reindl
Director, Improving College Access
Jobs for the Future
Boston, Mass.
(617) 728-4446
treindl@jff.org
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Edward P. St. John
Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
Indiana University
Director, Indiana Education Policy Center
Bloomington, IN
(812) 856-8366
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National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Copy
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education promotes public policies that enhance Americans' opportunities to pursue and achieve high-quality education and training beyond high school.
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Jane V. Wellman
Senior Associate
Institute for Higher Education Policy
Washington, D.C.
(202) 861-8223
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The College Board
New York, NY
general: (212) 713-8000
public affairs: (212) 713-8052
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Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Washington, D.C.
Press contact: Laura Forman
(202) 478-5680
forman@case.org
International organization of professionals advancing education institutions.
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Nils Hasselmo
President, Association of American Universities
Washington, D.C.
(202) 408-7500
Press contact: Peter F. Smith
peter_smith@aau.edu
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Stanley Ikenberry
President, American Council on Education
Washington, D.C.
(202) 939-9310
Press contact: Timothy McDonough
(202)939-9300.
tim_mcdonough@ace.nche.edu
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Art Levine
President, Teachers College, Columbia University
New York, N.Y.
(212) 678-3132
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C. Peter Magrath
President, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
Washington, D.C.
(202) 478-6040
Press contact: Cheryl Fields or Stephanie Weix
(202) 478-6073
cfields@nasulgc.org or sweix@nasulgc.org
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National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Washington, D.C.
(202) 785-8866
Press contact: Tony Pals
(202) 785-8866
tony@naicu.edu
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National Center for Postsecondary Improvement
Stanford University
Stanford, Calif.
(650) 723-7724
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Jim Palmer
Editor Grapevine
Center for Higher Education and Educational Finance
Illinois State University
Normal, Ill.
(309) 438-2041
http://www.coe.ilstu.edu/grapevine/
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Gordon C. Winston
Economics Professor
Williams College
Williamstown, Mass.
(413) 597-2476
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Sandy Baum
Economics professor, Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
(518) 580-5092
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Roderick G. W. Chu
Chancellor, Ohio Board of Regents
Columbus, Ohio
(614) 466-0887
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Christopher Cornwell
Economics professor, University of Georgia
Athens Ga.
(706) 542-3670
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Ronald Ehrenberg
Director, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute
Cornell University
256 Ives Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
(607) 255-3026
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Report Indicates Americans Are Undereducated
The United States has been underproducing college-going workers since 1980, according to a new report by Georgetown University researchers. Supply has failed to keep pace with growing demand, and as a result, income inequality has grown precipitously. Anthony P. Carnevale and Stephen J. Rose, Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, June 27, 2011
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Priced Out: How the Wrong Financial-Aid Policies Hurt Low-Income Students
Over the past three decades, college tuition and fees have grown at four times the rate of inflation. As a result, the percentage of family income needed to pay for college has mushroomed. This is especially true for the lowest income households. The Education Trust, June 2011
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Rewarding Progress, Reducing Debt
Can supplemental financial aid that is tied to academic performance help students complete their college studies? MDRC evaluated an innovative strategy: granting performance-based scholarships. And as with its program in Louisiana, an Ohio demonstration project also is showing promise. MDRC, October 2010
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Trends in College Pricing 2010
Over the decade from 2000‑01 to 2010‑11,published tuition and fees at public four‑year colleges and universities increased at an average rate of 5.6% per year beyond the rate of general inflation. This growth rate led the price to increase from 22% of the average tuition and fees at private nonprofit four‑year institutions to 28% over the decade. College Board, October 2010
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Lowering Student Loan Default Rates: What One Consortium of Historically Black Institutions Did to Succeed
Education Sector has released a new report that analyzes why students default on their loans. The authors of the report spotlight a small group of HBCUs in Texas who successfully lowered their cohort default rates and say they can be used as a national model for other colleges. Erin Dillon and Robin V. Smiles, Education Sector, Feb. 23, 2010
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The State Higher Education Finance FY 2008
SHEEO State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) releases its sixth annual study of state support for higher education. SHEEO, August 24, 2009
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How Much Are College Students Borrowing?
The College Board has released a policy brief examining student loan borrowing decisions of students and families. How Much Are College Students Borrowing finds although student debt has increased over the past five years that the amount of debt accumulated by graduates grew slowly from 2004 to 2008. The College Board finds that 41 percent of students graduated with no debt in the 2007-08 academic year. Sandy Baum and Patricia Steele are the authors of the report. August 11, 2009
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Keeping up with the Joneses: Institutional Changes Following the Adoption of a Merit Aid Policy
The Cornell Higher Education Research Institute examines student merit aid in higher education. July 31, 2009
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Higher Ed Groups in Survival Mode
Colleges around the country are laying off employees, freezing or cutting back travel and otherwise reining in their budgets in response to the down economy. And those cutbacks are having a direct and adverse effect on the many national associations that represent the institutions and their employees.Thirty-eight of 45 organizations in the Washington Higher Education Secretariat, which includes the heads of many of Washington’s major higher education associations, responded to an Inside Higher Ed survey about changes in their financial status from June 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009. Stephanie Lee and Ben Eisen, Inside Higher Education, July 29, 2009
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Rethinking the Middleman: Federal Student Loan Guaranty Agencies
The New America Foundation has released a new report Rethinking the Middleman: Federal Student Loan Guaranty Agencies providing an overview of the history and current responsibilities of guaranty agenices and complex entities that make up the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. The report's release coincides with plans by President Obama's administration to change the federal student loan program. Benjamin Miller, New America Foundation, July 13, 2009
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Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis
A new report released by Education Sector finds college students are taking on riskier debt such as unregulated private student loans which is compounding overall student loan debt. Kevin Carey and Erin Dillon, Education Sector, July 9, 2009
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American Academic: The State of the Higher Education Workforce
As college enrollment increased over the past decade so did higher education’s dependence on “contingent” instructors to lead academia including part-time faculty, full-time non-tenure track faculty and graduate employees. That’s according to a report released by the American Federation of Teachers that analyzes 10-years worth of data on higher education teaching. “American Academic: The State of the Higher Education Workforce” finds over a ten-year period the proportion of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members declined from approximately one-third of the instructional staff to slightly more than one-quarter. 6/2/2009
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Measuring Up 2008
Since 2000, the Measuring Up report cards have evaluated the progress of the nation and all 50 states in providing Americans with education and training beyond high school. This year's report card underscores the escalation of tuition cost compared to the rise in family income.
by National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education , 12/12/2008
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Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137)
It's been called one of the most important pieces of legislation to affect the higher education community in a decade. The House and Senate passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, five years after its inception. Lawmakers believe the legislation will help make college more affordable for American families who've seen tuition sky-rocket in the millennium. The bill addresses the following: expansion of the Pell grant program for college students, require that colleges to report more information about their spending and fess and the U.S. Department of Education will have more say over the student loan industry. Read the act here. See comments from U.S Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Tom Carper (D-DE) about Congress passing the legislation. Also read this Inside Higher Education story about HEA.
8/1/2008
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Enchancing Affordability and Access in the Independent Higher Education
This guide examines what some private colleges and universities are doing to cut costs in order to make tuition more affordable for students today.
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, 12/17/2007
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The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education pdf
The Harvard Graduate School of Education examines faculty experiences on college campuses today.
Harvard Graduate School of Education - COACHE, 9/17/2007
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The State of College Savings : Parents Resigned to Decades of Debt pdf
Parents are counting on credit to counterbalance skyrocketing college costs, according to The State of College Savings, a survey to assess the state of college savings.
The College Savings Foundation - The College Savings Foundation, 9/12/2007
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Collision Course pdf
A policy brief from Lumina Foundation for Education on the implications of rising college costs, especially for students from low-income families.
9/8/2004
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Second Report on Marketing Practices in the Federal Family Education Loan Program September pdf
The new report indicates some lenders provide donations and other benefits to colleges in exchange for preferential treatment regarding student loans. Senator Edward Kennedy, chairman of the U.S. Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sponsored the report's release.
U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, 9/5/2007
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Southern Regional Education Board's Fact Book on Higher Education
Billed as one of the nation's most comprehensive collections of comparative data on higher education, the Fact Book has data on long-term trends and developments in higher education in 16 southern states. State-by-state summaries and quick facts are also included.
Southern Regional Education Board, 7/1/2007
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A National Dialogue: The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education
Final draft of the controversial Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education is released. Among its recommendations is revamping loans and grants programs, measuring the success of colleges and universities, among others.
Commission on the Future of Higher Education, 8/11/2006
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How Latino Students Pay for College pdf
Financial aid plays a crucial role in whether Latino students go to college, concludes a new report from Excelencia in Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and USAFunds. Although the percentage of Latino students receiving financial aid is at a record high, they still have the lowest federal aid awards of any ethnic group.
Excelencia in Education, 8/10/2005
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Global Higher Education Rankings pdf
The first systematic and rigorous exploration of the affordability and accessibility of higher education within an international comparative context was released by the Educational Policy Institute. The rankings gather available, comparable data on student costs, resources, and opportunities in terms of higher education.
by Alex Usher and Amy Cervenan, 4/19/2005
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Accountability for Better Results: A National Imperative for Higher Education pdf
In light of growing global competition, low graduation rates, racial achievement gaps and other problems dogging higher education in the U.S., the National Commission on Accountability released this study with recommendations designed to increase access and graduation rates in the nation's colleges and universities.
National Commission on Accountability, 3/10/2005
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Measuring Up 2004
Although high school graduates are generally better prepared to succeed in college than they were a decade ago, most states, and the nation as a whole, have made little progress in translating these gains into improvements at the college level. These are among the major findings of Measuring Up 2004: The National Report Card on Higher Education.
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 9/15/2004
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Why Do Students Borrow So Much?
A paper on national trends in student loan debt from the ERIC education articles clearinghouse.
ERIC Digest - Kenneth E. Redd, 7/20/2004
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NAICU Tuition Survey
Study of published tuition prices at private institutions finds costs holding steady.
National Association of Independent Colleges and U, 7/8/2004
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Costs of College
A special Web site from the Committee on Education and the Workforce looks at the cost of college.
5/1/2004
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Trends in Student Aid
The College Board's annual presentation on the amount of assistance in the form of grants, loans and work-study programs that is available to help students pay for college.
The College Board, 10/21/2003
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Trends in College Pricing pdf
A report based on The College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges examines tuition and expenses for U.S. post-secondary education.
The College Board, 10/21/2003
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Cost of College Study
A project study conducted by NACUBO that examines the methodology for calculating the costs of an undergraduate education.
National Association of College and University Bus, 2/11/2002
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Slamming Shut the Door to College pdf
A 2002 report from U.S. Senate and House Democrats criticizing the Bush administration's education policies in light of state budget crises.
5/2/2002
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Clashes of Money and Values: A Survey of Admissions Directors
Admissions counselors like to talk about finding the right "fit" for applicants -- a great match between a student's educational and other goals and an institution's programs. But a new survey of the senior admissions officials at colleges nationwide finds that this "fit" is, from many colleges' point of view, increasingly about money. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 21, 2011
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Concessions or a Cave-In?
After 10 months, more than 100 meetings with for-profit colleges and other stakeholders and 90,000 written comments, the Education Department today formally unveiled its second attempt to craft a new system for determining whether vocational programs prepare their graduates for "gainful employment." Libby A. Nelson, Inside Higher Ed, June 2, 2011
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Some Lawmakers Target Pell Grants For Cuts
The government pays out billions in Pell Grants each year. But critics say there are cases of fraud where students don't use the money for education. Nancy Marshall Genzer, Marketplace, May 31, 2011
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Billionaire's Role in Hiring Decisions at Florida State University Raises Questions
A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university. Kris Hundley, St. Petersburg Times, May 10, 2011
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Schools Find Ayn Rand Can’t Be Shrugged as Donors Build Courses
John Allison, former chairman of bank holding company BB&T Corp., admires author Ayn Rand so much that he devised a strategy to spread her laissez-faire principles on U.S. campuses. Allison, working through the BB&T Charitable Foundation, gives schools grants of as much as $2 million if they agree to create a course on capitalism and make Rand’s masterwork, “Atlas Shrugged,” required reading. Seth Lubove and Oliver Staley, Bloomberg Markets Magazine, May 5, 2011
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Ohio Universities Told to Develop 3-Year Degrees
Ohio Gov. John Kasich has ordered state universities to investigate ways for students to get a bachelor's degree in three years. The hope is that three-year degrees will help save students money and get them into the job market more quickly. Larry Abramson, NPR, April 19, 2011
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Performance and Costs in Higher Education: A Proposal for Better Data
Although virtually all universities have accounting systems that track every dollar in accordance with the accounting rules required by auditors, these systems are not adequate to inform their leaders or the public about the profit and loss, productivity, or efficiency of their activities. Elizabeth D. Capaldi and Craig W. Abbey, Change Magazine, March-April 2011
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Obama To Seek Changes In Pell Grants
President Barack Obama's budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants and other higher education programs over a decade through belt-tightening and use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said. Darlene Superville, Associated Press, Feb. 13, 2011
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Public Universities Relying More on Tuition Than State Money
For bargain-hunting families, state colleges and universities, supported by tax money, have long been a haven from the high cost of private education. But tuition bargains are fading as the nation’s public universities undergo a profound shift, accelerated by the recession. In most states, it is now tuition payments, not state appropriations, that cover most of the budget. Tamar Lewin, The New York Times, Jan. 24, 2011
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Views: College Is Still Worth It
It's an old story: when economic downturns hit, unemployment rates spiral and tales of college graduates forced to tend bar or mop floors proliferate. So, too, do the assertions of experts and budget-constrained political leaders that young people don't need costly postsecondary education in a job market that has little use for college degrees. Anthony Carnevale, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 14, 2011
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Is Law School a Losing Game?
Number-fudging games among law schools are endemic, professors and deans say, because the fortunes of law schools rise and fall on rankings, with reputations and huge sums of money hanging in the balance. You may think of law schools as training grounds for new lawyers, but that is just part of it. David Segal, The New York Times, Jan. 8, 2011
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A Course Correction
Overbooked classes are among the academic hurdles many undergraduates face at the University of Massachusetts Amherst — a campus struggling to break into the top ranks of public universities after losing nearly a fifth of its tenured and tenure-track professors in the past two decades. Tracy Jan, Boston Globe, Dec. 19, 2010
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California Legislature Wants a Say in Public University Budgets
Angered by years of student fee hikes at California's public universities and colleges, lawmakers are pursuing legislation that would give them broad new powers over how the higher education systems spend taxpayer money. Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 16, 2010
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Separate Is Not Equal; Black Colleges Sue State
Students and former officials are suing Maryland for not adequately funding the state's four historically black colleges and universities. The plaintiffs charge that the state has essentially maintained two separate systems of higher education, and has duplicated programs in order to make it easier for white students to avoid attending black universities. Larry Abramson, National Public Radio, Dec. 12, 2010
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Poll: Education Backed, But Not New School Taxes
The public verdict is in and overwhelming: The better the education people get, the stronger the U.S. economy will be, a poll shows. But don't count on folks to support higher taxes to improve schools. Eric Gorski and Alan Fram, Associated Press, Dec. 9, 2010
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Middle Class Feeling Squeezed by Rising College Tuition
Some middle-class families are feeling squeezed out of an affordable, high-quality college education as the California’s public universities keep raising tuition. Jean Cowden Moore, Ventura County Star, Nov. 25, 2010
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Compensation of 30 Private-College Presidents Topped $1-Million
A Chronicle of Higher Education review, which included 448 chief executives, found 30 private college leaders who received more than $1-million in total compensation. In the previous year's report, 23 chief executives earned over $1-million. Andrea Fuller, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 14, 2010
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Community Colleges May Cost Some States More than Some 4-Year Universities
Conventional wisdom in higher education holds that educating students at two-year colleges will save both governments and students money. But a new study, by a former community-college administrator, challenges that assumption. His research concludes that it actually costs less to educate first- and second-year students at a four-year public master's-level university. At least one critic, however, says the study is flawed. Eric Kelderman, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 10, 2010
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Want Students to Perform Well? Perhaps Give Them Money for Doing Just That
As colleges search for ways to improve student outcomes, a new study shows that using financial aid more strategically could be one approach. Researchers examined a program at three Ohio community colleges that gave low-income parents scholarships based on their performance—and they saw some encouraging results. Becky Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 5, 2010
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Tuition Hikes of the Downturn
Tuition is up and this year the percentage increases for public and private four-year colleges and universities are higher than they were last year. Generally, the percentage increases at public institutions are larger than those at privates.Those trends are standard for tight economic times, when states cut budgets and try to make up for shortfalls. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 28, 2010
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Athletic Fees Are Large, Sometimes Hidden, Cost at Va. Colleges
Athletic fees are a large - and occasionally hidden - cost of public higher education in Virginia and Maryland. The athletic fee is the largest single item charged to undergraduate students at many Maryland and Virginia public universities, apart from tuition, according to figures from state education agencies. Fees at some Virginia schools rank among the highest in the nation. Daniel de Vise, Washington Post, Oct. 25, 2010
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Report: College dropouts cost taxpayers billions
Dropping out of college after a year can mean lost time, burdensome debt and an uncertain future for students. Now there's an estimate of what it costs taxpayers. And it runs in the billions. States appropriated almost $6.2 billion for four-year colleges and universities between 2003 and 2008 to help pay for the education of students who did not return for year two, a report released Monday says. Eric Gorski, The Associated Press, Oct. 11, 2010
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OPINION: Runaway Tuition
At Pomona College, a top-flight liberal arts school, this year’s sticker price for tuition and fees is a hefty $38,394 (not including room and board). Even after adjusting for inflation, that comes to 2.9 times what Pomona was charging a generation ago, in 1980. This kind of massive tuition increase is the norm. In New England, Williams College charges $41,434, or an inflation-adjusted 3.2 times what it did 30 years ago. Southern Cal’s current tab of $41,022 is a 3.6 multiple of its 1980 bill.Tuition at public universities, in a time of ailing state budgets, has risen at an even faster rate. The University of Illinois’ current $13,658 is six times its 1980 rate after adjusting for inflation. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19, 2010
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More options than buying books
University of Florida finance major Thomas Spoto, 21, joined the ranks of students declaring they're just not going to take it anymore, finding a way around the always-increasing cost of college textbooks. Renting college textbooks is now all the rage at campus bookstores and online, with students saving at least half off the new cover price. And they don't run the risk of a bookstore not buying back the book if a professor decides not to use it the following semester or the publisher issues a new edition. Kimberly C. Moore, The Gainesville Sun, August 31, 2010
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Report: Higher Education in Michigan Hurting
Michigan's declining investment in higher education is among the worst in the nation -- making it difficult for students to get degrees and the state to recover from the poor economy, according to a report released Monday. Kim Kozlowski, The Detroit News, Aug. 10, 2010
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Community Colleges Fighting to Cope
Community colleges are becoming lifesavers to students seeking a degree but unable to pay the skyrocketing costs of four-year colleges. Yet community colleges are struggling to cope with increased enrollment as their budgets are slashed by debt-laden states. Megan L. Thomas, MSNBC, Aug. 10, 2010
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Investigation of for-profit colleges finds fraud, misrepresentations
A government probe of 15 for-profit colleges found four cases in which campus officials encouraged applicants to commit fraud, and examples at every school in which officials lied about or misrepresented their programs. Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today, Aug. 4, 2010
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Economy Forces States to Scale Back Scholarship Programs
Ever since elementary school, Bonnie Slocum knew that if she kept her grades up, her home state of Nevada would reward her by paying $10,000 toward college tuition.In Nevada and across the country, the weak economy is forcing many states to cut back their merit-based scholarship programs. Caralee Adams, Education Week, July 27, 2010
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Most Public Colleges Face Budget Cut Threats in 2011
As signs of a tentative economic rebound hearten students and parents in states such as North Dakota and Arkansas, continuing high unemployment and state budget crises could lead to funding cuts to public colleges and universities in several others. U.S.News & World Report has combined data on the economic and budgetary strength of each state to show which state systems will likely face budget pressure in the coming months. Kim Clark, US News and World Report, July 13, 2010
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What went wrong with the UC system?
Fifty years ago, California promised a low-cost, high-quality university education for every qualified high school graduate in the state. But that promise inflated by growing populations and academic aspirations expanded beyond the state's willingness to pay for it. Lisa M.Krieger, Media News Group, July 8, 2010
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The Next Degree
Twenty-five years ago, Minnesota became the first state to pay for high-school juniors and seniors to earn college credits that also counted toward their high-school diplomas. More than 110,000 Minnesotans have earned as many as two years of college credits without paying a dime toward the tuition. The dual-credit program, called Post-Secondary Education Options or PSEO, spawned efforts across the country to engage the bored, the brainy and the alienated. But now Minnesota — struggling with a persistent achievement gap between whites and minorities — finds itself somewhat behind the newest generation of programs, which focuses on under-represented, low-income and at-risk students. First of a series. Casey Selix, MinnPost.com, June 18, 2010
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Debt Hunters
You can run, but you can't hide.In an age where every penny counts, some universities are pulling out all the stops to collect parking ticket debts. Colleges are deploying a full arsenal of weapons, including the use of high-tech equipment to scan parking lots for violators, and the enlistment of collection agencies to hunt down deadbeats. Jack Stripling, Inside Higher Ed, May 28, 2010
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Chasing Conflicts of Interest
The National Institutes of Health on Thursday proposed significant changes in federal regulations governing financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research -- changes that would increase the expectations (and, they are likely to argue, the burden) on universities to examine and report potentially problematic entanglements. Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, May 21, 2010
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Unlikely Bedfellows on Student Loans
An unusual coalition of lending, financial aid, and student groups have teamed up to urge members of Congress to require providers of non-federal student loans to get colleges' approval before they make such loans to students. Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, May 11, 2010
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For-profit colleges leave many students in debt
When Sarah E. Gagliano enrolled in 2006 at the Art Institute of Philadelphia - a for-profit college - she dreamed of a career in fashion design. Instead, she is nearly $100,000 in debt with no degree. With enrollment soaring at for-profit colleges, more students are taking on crushing debt, but students at these colleges default at higher rates and graduate at lower rates than their peers at nonprofit and public schools. Susan Snyder, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 7, 2010
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Why Deep Tuition Discounts May Not Spell Financial Doom
Many colleges have taken a whack at their sticker prices with heavy tuition "discounts"—knocking off big dollar amounts with institutional grants to get students in the door.Paul Fain, Chronicle of Higher Education, May 2, 2010
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More debt, lower salaries await many college graduates Christian Druce Jones was fairly certain he wanted to attend North Central College in Naperville to study psychology until his mother brought the College of the Ozarks to his attention. Druce Jones realizes what many other high school and college students are learning: A bachelor’s degree, once viewed as the gateway to a comfortable middle-class lifestyle, is becoming less of a sure bet in the face of rising college costs and a postgraduation job market under siege by the Great Recession. Sean F. Driscoll, Rockford Register Star, May 3, 2010
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A Fairy Godmother to Help With College Aid
The envelope arrives with good news. The college is pleased to announce that the student has been offered acceptance and, if he or she is fortunate, some scholarship money. Jacques Steinberg, New York Times, April 30, 2010
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As Recession Ebbs, Heavy Debt Threatens U.S. Higher Education
A little more than a year after Atlanta’s water department almost shut off cash-strapped Morris Brown College’s water supply, the historically Black institution has mustered enough support from students, alumni and the African Methodist Episcopal Church to buoy hopes for a comeback. Peter Galuszka, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, April 26, 2010
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Three-year bachelor's degree gains popularity
About a dozen, mostly small, U.S. colleges and universities now offer formal routes to earning a degree in three years instead of the usual four or five. And many others, including the University of California, are studying ways to start such an option. Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2010
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Professors' Pay Rises 1.2%, Lowest Increase in 50 Years
"No Refuge," the title of the American Association of University Professors' latest annual report on faculty salaries, gives a nod to the economic realities from which higher education has been unable to escape. Among them: A paycheck that barely grew from the year before.In 2009-10, the average salary of a full-time faculty member rose only 1.2 percent. That's the lowest year-to-year increase recorded by the association in the 50-year history of its salary survey. Audrey Williams June, The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2010
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Insurance Rip-Off
Health insurance plans for college students often rip off the students that they claim to serve, a New York State investigation into the policies offered by more than 65 institutions has found. Jennifer Epstein, Inside Higher Education, April 9, 2010
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N.J. colleges offer tuition discounts for summer sessions to boost revenue
Saint Peter’s College wants more students to enroll in its summer session, so the Jersey City school is offering a deal: Buy one course, get the second for half-price. A growing number of colleges throughout New Jersey are offering discounts on summer instruction, vying to capture a larger share of an expanding market while at the same time boosting revenue. Brian Whitley, The Star-Ledger, April 7, 2010
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For-Profit Colleges Boom
Six years ago, there were almost three times as many students enrolled in private nonprofit colleges as there were at for-profit institutions. By 2008-9, that ratio had slipped to about 2 to 1.That is just one of many indicators, in data released by the U.S. Education Department Tuesday, of the boom in the sector of higher education alternatively called for-profit/private sector/corporate. Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, April 7, 2010
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Tuition-free colleges stand their ground against costs
Even as the price tag of a four-year college degree outpaces inflation, a handful of U.S. colleges and universities are going to extraordinary lengths to contain costs — by picking up full tuition for every student they enroll.Most colleges offering free tuition are military academies; several are engineering schools, where graduates are in short supply and demand is great. Jack Gillum, USA Today, April 6, 2010
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State universities tap student fees for unintended projects
While California universities have faced round after round of crippling budget cuts and protests against increased fees have flared on campuses, administrators have tapped funds meant for classrooms and students to cover some extraordinary costs: losses on ill-timed real estate deals, loans to high-ranking officials and an ambitious construction project. Jack Dolan, The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2010
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Revamped Aid Bill on Track
The endgames of massive pieces of legislation like the current health care/student loan bill are a politics junkie's dream -- and many a policy wonk's nightmare. The kinds of compromises that are typically required to win last-minute votes, meet budget requirements, and get a measure over the finish line often necessitate decisions that leave nobody -- even those making the choices to get the deal done -- entirely satisfied. Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed, March 19, 2010
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College completion gets new scrutiny
Janna Mendez didn't last even one semester in college-- a victim, she says, of not realizing how expensive it would be to pay for classes. As Indiana joins a nationwide effort to help college students such as Mendez stay on campus, statistics show the odds against success are enormous -- particularly for Indiana students at two-year community colleges such as Ivy Tech, where Mendez had attempted her career as a student. Dan McFeely, The Indianapolis Star, March 11, 2010
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Obama's Student Loan Overhaul Endangered
With Democratic Congressional leaders and the White House struggling on Wednesday to finalize the details of major health care legislation, House Democrats were desperately trying to prevent another of President Obama's top legislative priorities- an ambitious overhaul of student loan programs - from becoming a casualty of the health care battle. David M. Herszenhorn, The New York Times, March 11, 2010
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Colleges to release budget cut plans this week
Georgia's 35 colleges and universities early this week will release their plans for how to make nearly $600 million in cuts for the coming fiscal year. Aaron Gould Sheinin, Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 1, 2010
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