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College Affordability Dropping in Most States, Especially among Low-income Students
Thirty-six states received failing grades on a biennial report card that reveals the cost of attending college represents a higher portion of American families’ incomes today than it did a decade ago. A separate report from the Pell Institute supports those conclusions by showing students from the lower-income bracket are finding it more difficult than ever to keep pace with rising tuition costs.
Measuring Up 2004, issued by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, examines the nation as a whole and each state’s performance in providing higher education and training. The report's affordability measures indicate tuition has increased faster than the incomes of most American families, and generally, none of the increases in financial aid have kept pace with the tuition increases.
To determine affordability, states were measured on three levels, including:
- Family ability to pay: the percent of income needed to pay for college expenses minus financial aid for community colleges, public four-year institutions and private four-year institutions over 1994 and 2004.
- Strategies toward increasing affordability: the percentage of state investment in need-based financial aid compared to federal investment.
- Reliance on loans.
Measuring Up also grades states in four other categories: preparation for college; participating; completion, and benefits. Only two states improved on more than half of the report’s indicators, as 17 states declined on every indicator over the decade.
While almost every state failed in affordability across all income levels, a recent report from the Pell Institute indicates the problem may be worse among students from low-income families. Low-income students are more likely to go to less expensive colleges and are effectively being “priced” out of the market, especially at four-year institutions, according to Indicators of Opportunity in Higher Education. Measuring access and affordability for lower-income students in higher education, the report finds that 31 percent of low-income students were enrolled in or had attended college in 1999-2000 compared to 79 percent of students from higher-income families.
The report reveals that only 11 percent of students at public four-year institutions are from the lowest income group, which consists of students from families with incomes under $25,000 per year. The middle-income group - families with incomes from $25,000 to $74,999 - accounted for 59 percent and students from high-income levels. Families with incomes of $75,000 or more made up 41 percent of the student body.
The study also finds that although low-income students pay less to attend college, their families pay the highest percentage of total income. For example, the total costs for low-income families with students attending a four-year institution accounted for nearly 60 percent of the family’s income, while costs for families in the middle- and highest-income brackets accounted for approximately 17 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Indications suggest an increased stratification by students’ income, according to the report, and low-income students are increasingly attending two-year and non-degree-granting institutions.
Detailed individual state report cards are available. The national report, state report cards, comparisons among states, and report methodology will be available at http://www.highereducation.org. (requires Cookies) Opportunity in Higher Education is available from the Pell Institute at: http://www.pellinstitute.org