<p>The women I know who work in our local salon/hair cutter have kids at community college/local state schools in the area. The kids commute and work part time. One young man is on full aid as the Pell and NY state money covers his entire COA. The salon owner’s kids did not qualify for any financial aid, but the cost in NY for tuition is affordable for them. The Stafford unsubsidized would have covered most if not all of it. </p>
<p>I know kids who commute to NYU and Fordham. A number of them. Fordham gives a commuter grant of about $6K off the tuition, and a few of the commuting NYU kids also get a few grand in merit money to reduce the cost somewhat. The kids also work part time and borrow. By doing that they can reduce the cost of NYU tuition to about $25K. Still a lot, but doable for these families without breaking the bank. Those who need financial aid do have it tough if they want to go to private schools that gap. Government funds are insufficient to pay for private school tuition. If the schools do meet full need with their own monies, it is unaffordable for many. But the state schools are doable.</p>
<p>Mini- assets for the wealthiest Americans (i.e., those with family incomes greater than $160k.) have now shrunk significantly. IRAs, 401ks and home equity are all down 40% for some I know personally. People can’t lose that proportion of their assets without a major impact. I don’t think we’ve begun to see what the true impact will be.</p>
<p>Maybe two (or three?) years ago, the LA Times wrote about the increases in UC and CSU tuition and fees over the past few decades. I can’t find the article, but I remember being astounded at the sharp uptick in cost in real dollars. What was even more astounding was that the increases in CSU fees were significantly higher in percentage terms than the increase in UC fees. Parental household incomes are generally higher for UC students than for CSU, so families who could least afford it were the ones who were getting the biggest fee increase percentage. It might be a “bargain” relative to other states, but it’s making it much harder for lower-income students to attend.</p>
<p>^^It’s only a bargain if you can get in, get the classes you need, get reasonable instructors, etc. All three of those things are going to be at play and at risk in CA. The good thing the community college students have is where they fall on the priority list once they are ready to transfer to a CSU (or possibly UC) campus.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget that the cost of living in many places in CA is pretty high, so unless the high school grad is willing to stomach (and many are) living at home and commuting, this has to be factored into total cost as well.</p>
<p>The biggest nightmare, if you will, is going to come to the as yet underperforming high school students in CA who, under prior standards, could probably slip into a CSU campus somewhere. The reality check for these students is going to be more eye opening than for the UC system applicants, who knew (or should have!) that competition, especially for the better campuses, was going to be stiff.</p>
<p>I have a very strong feeling that the “affordability” of public higher ed in CA is going to swiftly be something spoken about in past tense.</p>
<p>“It’s only a bargain if you can get in, get the classes you need, get reasonable instructors, etc.”</p>
<p>I just signed up for two of our daughter’s CC classes for the spring. One section was already closed for one of her classes so I picked the second choice time. I normally check out the instructors for a course but we don’t have any real choice at this time. My guess is that classes will fill up sooner for CC courses across the country.</p>
<p>Even at $30/hour as proposed for next year, Cal CC is way cheaper than it is in New England. I think that New England will have the same issues of crowding, instructors, living at home, etc. But it will still cost more here.</p>
<p>The college tax breaks in the Federal Tax Codes seem to be geared to community college costs in the most expensive states given their amounts. That doesn’t include any kind of expenses for living.</p>
<p>I read this morning that one of the MA CCs is going to be hit with a 9% budget decrease next year. That’s on top of the 5% decrease this year. It’s either going to push down services or push up tuition.</p>
<p>The last time economic tough times hit MA, I think that some majors were shut down resulting in students not being able to graduate. I don’t recall what the options were for those students back then.</p>
<p>What impresses me about the CA ccs is that they can provide a good pipeline to the UCs. Some ccs do not. Also there are ccs like the ones Findaplace and BCeagle discuss where the classes are hard to get. Where we once lived, I signed up for some classes over a two year period. Every one of my choices were cancelled for lack of interest.</p>
<p>I don’t get where these figures are coming from. A Pell grant for a low income student is over 4000. NJ TAG grants get close to 10,000. The students I work with who are low income get these for our private college. I would imagine that they’d also be available for CCs and public colleges. I don’t see where they’d have to finance that much of their education themselves; my students usually don’t, even at a private.</p>
<p>The cited figures from the study released today appear to figure on students living away from home, and of course many students still live at home while attending college.</p>
<p>I’m with you, Garland. That is what I am saying. THose families that are low income can have their whole way paid at a local state university or cc. It’s going away to school that is expensive.</p>
Here’s the full article. They are promoting on-line education (remote learning institutions), getting an AA during last few yrs of HS, 3 yr colleges, etc. Thoughts??</p>
<p>When I took my son on a spring college tour I was astonished as the lavish spending that was clearly a part of the college experience. Cafeterias were now multi stationed fresh cooking experiences! Cappachino bars abounded. Luxury lounge areas with massive leather armchairs grouped for cozy conversation. Private gyms in the dorms (or nearby). And, in most of the info sessions, the staff went on and on about all the generous travel abroad that would be underwritten by the school for students. It became clear to me that one way in which colleges were competeing for students was by bribing them with all of these unnessessary extras.</p>
<p>I read a study several years ago on hope that AP courses would provide college credit and decrease the cost of a four-year degree for low-income students. I think AP has helped but the focus has frequently been on metrics (number of students taking AP courses) instead of ensuring that students learn the material.</p>
<p>NC (Governor Easley) has been working on dual-enrollment getting college credits during high-school. I think that many governors are looking at this now but it does cost some money and some reorganization of how education is delivered in addition to the logistical issues.</p>
<p>I think that online education is useful for some courses but it requires a certain kind of student - the self-learner and the self-motivated learner. In many cases, online courses cost more than in-person courses due to the costs of courseware development and technical infrastructure but there can be commuting and living savings.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of these ideas have varying degrees of merit but the biggest missing piece is the hardest. Getting our primary and secondary schools to do their jobs so that kids are prepared for college-level work.</p>
<p>I agree that this is the toughest issue, especially because I have seen how K-12 education is done in another country that does it better than the United States with less expenditure.</p>
<p>Wow, there are so many ways to come at this.
But one of those is from the point of view of kids from families in the lowest quarter of the income range. What percent start college and never get a degree? I’d have to look it up, but I’m sure it is a majority. How many of them DON’T graduate with student loans? We’ve heard plenty about people who DO graduate with student loans. They are the lucky ones.
Colleges are happy to take these kids’ money and the government (just as with pushing home ownership for more and more people) is happy to enable them to take on obligations they often can’t afford.
Now there are many incompletely educated young people with serious debts that can’t be erased in bankruptcy. I’ve never heard of a lobbying group for these people. I’d like to see a class action suit on this one, but there is no chance of beating the educational establishment and the government.</p>
<p>I don’t like to see colleges hoarding money that should be used to help moderate college tuition costs. Some colleges are sitting on endowment investments in the tens of billions, while so many colleges and deserving students struggle financially. The donors of these huge endowments and the investment growth over the years have enjoyed tax benefits at the expense of the public. If our colleges refuse to share their wealth, perhaps the government needs to force them - like the proposed oil industry windfall profits tax that was popular eartlier this year. Our rich, elite colleges should think about charity. Like Obama says, let’s spread the wealth … because it’s good for everyone.</p>