High cost of college puts future at risk
The value of a college degree to gaining rewarding work and a satisfying lifestyle has been long established. But the cost of that degree — and the debt that comes with it — has grown in the past two decades to create a generation of college graduates struggling to realize the financial benefit of their education.
The problem is especially acute in Pennsylvania, where state funding for higher education is among the lowest in the country, forcing higher tuition among state-supported schools and a corresponding high debt load among graduates and those who drop out because they can’t afford to finish a degree.
A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities showed that from 2008 to 2019, state funding for higher education in Pennsylvania dropped by 33.4%, the sixth worst decrease of all 50 states. That equates to $2,538 less funding per student, which ranks ninth worst in the country.
Corresponding to that is the third-highest rate of student loan debt in the country, according to a 2020 study by LendEDU. The study reported by PennLive found that 64% of 2019 graduates in Pennsylvania took on debt, and the average borrower had $38,521 in student loans.
A recent Reading Eagle report on a media briefing by Marc Stier, director of the Budget and Policy Center, detailed the tuition rise over the past 13 years:
From 2008 to 2019, Stier said, average tuition at fouryear schools in the state has increased by 20.3%. That hike is on top of tuition levels that were in 2008 already relatively high compared to other states, he added.
In 2018, he said, the cost of college represented about 34% of the median household income in Pennsylvania, a figure that ranks the state tied for second to worst in the country.
For Black families the cost is 56% of median income and for Latino families it’s 48%.
“It’s embarrassing,” Stier said. “We should be jumping up and down saying this is something that needs to be fixed immediately.”
The issue goes beyond individual and family debt, affecting the future of the economy in the state, speakers at the briefing noted.
Just about 60% of jobs in Pennsylvania require some level of higher education, state Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Philadelphia Democrat, said, and the state workforce consistently falls short.
Particularly when it comes to students of color, he said, the number one reason they don’t pursue higher education is an inability to afford it.
Rep. Jordan Harris, a
Philadelphia Democrat, also took part in the briefing and spoke of education as an “elevator out of poverty” for middle and working class Pennsylvanians — an elevator now “out of order” for those families.
Pennsylvania’s notoriety for high college costs is not a recent development. A 2017 study reported by PennLive found that Penn State University was the most expensive public flagship university in the country with $18,400 in tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year. The least expensive was University of Wyoming at $5,220.
The current cost to attend Penn State including tuition, fees and room and board is nearly $37,000 a year. In contrast, in-state costs to attend the University of Florida average $21,211 but because of a statewide comprehensive aid program, the average in-state resident pays just $8,057, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Instituting statewide aid programs for Pennsylvania colleges in the state system is a current focus of the Wolf administration and was highlighted in the Budget and Policy briefing. The Nellie Bly Scholarship Program and the Pennsylvania Promise Program would provide funding assistance for students attending Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools from families with incomes of $110,000 or less.
In a state historically stingy with higher education dollars, however, we are skeptical about the future of these programs. More must be done, and lawmakers are not the only ones accountable.
Colleges, too — both state supported and private — should assess their costs and their practices. Enrollments are dropping, and unless something is done to reverse the trend, Pennsylvania faces a serious deficit in preparing leaders for tomorrow.
Lawmakers, educators, heads of universities and business leaders need to put their heads together and come up with ways to bring costs down, provide more assistance to students in working-class families and create a path for advancement. The future of the next generation and of Pennsylvania’s ability to compete in a changing world depend on it.