Majority of students cannot afford 95 percent of US colleges
By
Kathleen Martin
8 April 2017
A recent report shows that US colleges are becoming increasingly unaffordable. “Limited Means, Limited Options: College Remains Unaffordable for Many Americans,” released in March 2017 by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), shows 95 percent of American colleges are too expensive for the majority of low-income students.
The study draws shocking results. “[A]lthough the student from the highest income quintile in these analyses could afford to attend 90 percent of colleges in the sample,” the report states, “the low- and moderate-income students with fewer financial resources could only afford 1 to 5 percent of colleges.”
Working class students and youth are faced with bleak options for future employment. Most jobs that pay “decent” wages require a college degree or certificate. But over the last several decades, there has been a significant shift in financial policy for higher education: on the one hand, the cost of attaining a degree has skyrocketed and, on the other, state and federal funding for college costs has been rolled back significantly.
These tuition hikes and funding cutbacks have effectively educationally crippled millions of working class students and youth in the US. Student loan debt has again reached an all-time high, weighing in at $1.4 trillion nationally. The average 2016 college graduate has a massive $37,172 in student loan debt, according to March 2017 statistics from studentloanhero.com.
The IHEP report cites low funding for the Pell Grant as a major factor in college unaffordability. In some states, funding for the Pell Grant has gone up in…