What's Your Plan for College Affordability

In America, a college education means personal success and a stronger nation.  The average college graduate earns nearly $1 million more over their lifetime than a high school graduate.[1]  And, a college educated population is critical for the political and social health of our nation.  College offers myriad opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds, and thus serves as a force for fairness and equality.  Colleges also enable society to address our most pressing social problems by providing education and experience to our nurses, teachers, social workers, and other public servants.

Unfortunately, an affordable college education is becoming obsolete for millions of Americans. States have cut college budgets in the last decade, so tuition has increased while financial aid programs have failed to keep pace.  Now, students are forced to take on unmanageable debt – over $19,000 in college loans.[2]

Meanwhile, ancillary costs incurred while attending college have skyrocketed.  For example, students now pay an average of $900 a year on textbooks and supplies, the equivalent of 26% of tuition at an average four year public university and 72% of tuition at an average community college.[3]  And credit card companies, keenly aware of many students’ growing financial predicaments, cynically hook students into high-cost, revolving debt.  One quarter of students surveyed report using credit cards to pay for textbooks and tuition.[4]  Credit card debt among graduating seniors has shot up 134% in the last decade to over $3,000 per graduating senior on average.[5]

In total, this debt burden increasingly shuts out students from the lowest incomes from a college degree and the opportunity it offers.  One in five college eligible high school graduates drops out of applying for college due to cost concerns.[6]  As a result, last year’s first year students included less middle and low income people than ever before.[7]

This debt burden also restricts graduates’ career choices, impeding their ability to work in socially necessary but lower paying careers.  In 2005, 37% percent of public four-year college graduates had too much debt to manage on a starting social worker salary, while 23% percent could not manage their debt under a grade school teacher’s salary.[8]

We can solve this problem with a focused, nationally coordinated gameplan promoted by strong leadership from the very top.  Our next President must be the person to provide this leadership.

Therefore, we call upon every candidate for the President of the United State of America to outline a detailed plan to make a college education affordable for all Americans.

[1] Sandy Baum and Kathleen Payea, The College Board, Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society, revised edition 2005.

[2] National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS), 1993 and 2004 undergraduates, Data Analysis System (DAS), calculations by the Project on Student Debt.

[3] U.S. Government Accountability Office, College Textbooks: Enhanced Offerings Appear to Drive Recent Price Increases, http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-806.

[4] Nellie Mae Corporation, "Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards:  An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends," April 2002.

[5] Ibid.

[6] American Council on Education, Center for Policy Analysis, Missed Opportunities Revisited:  New Information on Students Who Do Not Apply for Financial Aid, February 2006.

[7] Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos, Korn, University of California Los Angeles, Higher Education Research Institute, American Freshmen: Forty Year Trends 1966-2006, April 2007.

[8] Luke Swarthout, USPIRG, Paying Back Not Giving Back: Student Debt's Negative Impact on Public Service Career Opportunities, April 2006.