tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/free-college-25971/articlesfree college – The Conversation2021-04-05T12:35:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1576512021-04-05T12:35:28Z2021-04-05T12:35:28ZFree college programs can enable more students to go to college, but it all depends on how the program is designed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391776/original/file-20210325-21-1qxrh0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Eligibility requirements for free college programs can hinder some students.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-at-university-during-coronavirus-pandemic-royalty-free-image/1277829589?adppopup=true">izusek/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Free college programs are <a href="https://www.collegepromise.org/">emerging across the United States</a> as potential mechanisms to improve college enrollment and affordability. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420967633">Our research</a> examines how the design of these programs influences their effectiveness. We argue that effectiveness depends on the answers to two questions. First, does it help more students attend and complete college? Second, how do the outcomes of the program compare with the resources invested?</p>
<p>Free college programs are sponsored by states, private donors and individual colleges. Some programs offer free tuition to attend a choice of colleges and universities, while others provide free tuition to attend a particular school. Programs may be available to students in a particular state, as is the case with the <a href="https://oregonstudentaid.gov/oregon-promise.aspx">Oregon Promise</a>, or a specific community, as is the case with the <a href="https://www.kalamazoopromise.com/">Kalamazoo Promise</a>. </p>
<p>Different programs have different outcomes. For example, one study found that the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537120300865">Tennessee Promise</a>, a program that promises free tuition and fees to graduates of Tennessee high schools who attend one of the state’s community or technical colleges, increased enrollment by 40% at the state’s community colleges. The study also found that the program increased enrollment among Black and Hispanic students. But another study found that the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-promise-of-free-college-and-its-potential-pitfalls/">Milwaukee Degree Project</a>, a program that offered one cohort of ninth graders attending selected public high schools up to US$12,000 to cover costs at an in-state institution, did not increase college enrollment. The authors concluded that the program was not effective because of its design. Few students met the program’s required 2.5 grade point average and 90% high school attendance requirement. Program officials did not do a good job of telling counselors and students about the program. And, the program was available for a limited period of time. </p>
<p>We used case studies to examine programs that offer free tuition to attend four community colleges. We found that programs vary in what they do to help students enroll and graduate. The programs we examined pay only the portion of tuition costs that is not covered by financial aid. That is, they provide what are called “last-dollar” awards. We found that last-dollar programs generally provide no new financial aid to low-income students, since tuition at community colleges is typically less than what low-income students receive from Federal Pell Grants. A last-dollar approach does not help low-income students pay other costs, like books, housing and food. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>A federal free community college initiative is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/03/22/infrastructure-biden-drug-reform/">reportedly being crafted by White House officials</a>. A federal initiative would build on the many free college programs already created by states and communities <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17742653">across the nation</a>.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>More insight is needed on how students view free college programs and why they do or don’t participate. This information will help program staff and other stakeholders do a better job of helping people know what these programs have to offer.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>In another <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/5436">paper</a>, we explore why free community college programs have particular eligibility requirements, financial awards and other program supports. We found that some programs establish eligibility requirements to control costs. Eligibility requirements limit the number of students who can participate. Concerns about costs also help explain why some programs offer only last-dollar financial awards. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest the need to consider how staff share program information, how they work with high schools to encourage students to apply and how they help students meet eligibility requirements. The success of free college programs may also depend on how officials collect data to identify a program’s strengths and weaknesses and use that data to better serve students.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157651/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was supported by a subcontract from Research for Action (RFA) that was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the funders. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elaine W. Leigh and Jeremy Wright-Kim do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Not all free college programs are the same. New research finds that eligibility requirements and other features influence outcomes.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1489722021-02-04T13:11:54Z2021-02-04T13:11:54ZThese are the students free community college programs help the most<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372904/original/file-20201203-19-19xnntk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'College promise' programs increase Black and Hispanic female college student enrollment the most. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/university-high-school-student-wearing-face-mask-royalty-free-image/1280141107?adppopup=true">FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>College programs that help cover tuition and fees significantly increase how many Black, Latino and white students enter college, according to a recently published study. </p>
<p>For our study, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720962472">we analyzed</a> 33 so-called college promise programs – in 18 states – that cover either partial or full tuition costs for students attending specific community colleges. We found that these programs increased the number of first-time, full-time Black, Latino and white students, but did not affect enrollment numbers for Asian and Pacific Islander students.</p>
<p>The largest effects were seen among Black and Latina women, with enrollment gains of about 50% for each group.</p>
<p>We also looked at “first dollar” programs – which give students money up front regardless of other aid – versus “<a href="https://www.acct.org/page/first-dollar-vs-last-dollar-promise-models">last dollar” programs</a> – which give aid only after all other assistance is disbursed. We found that first dollar scholarships nearly doubled the enrollment of white students but did not affect enrollment numbers for other groups.</p>
<p>Programs that were based on academic merit increased enrollment of white men by 32%, and white women by 77%. Whether a program offered additional services, such as mentoring and advising, did not affect enrollment. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>These college promise programs are widespread and becoming more prevalent. As of today, there are an <a href="https://www.collegepromise.org">estimated 360 total programs nationally</a>, affecting community colleges as well as four-year universities. The Biden administration has <a href="https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/">voiced support</a> for providing two years of community college debt-free, so the number of programs may expand.</p>
<p>Other researchers have found that cutting tuition by US$1,000 per academic year tends to <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w15387">boost enrollment by as much as 5%</a>. The average cost of in-state tuition and fees at a community college was <a href="https://www.aacc.nche.edu/research-trends/fast-facts/">$3,730 in 2019-20</a>. Charging no tuition at all, as you might suspect, would make an even bigger difference.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We don’t know why promise program scholarships make a difference for students from some racial/ethnic backgrounds but not others, although our findings are consistent with prior research showing larger effects for women than men. Additionally, we don’t know why we found no evidence that support services boost enrollment. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We would like to see how college promise programs affect the chances that students will earn their degree or make students more likely to transfer from community colleges to four-year universities. We’d also like to learn whether these programs affect allocation of resources within colleges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148972/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by a grant from the American Educational Research Association which receives funds for its "AERA Grants Program" from the National Science Foundation under NSF Grant #DRL-1749275. Opinions reflect those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agencies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by a grant from the American Educational Research Association which receives funds for its "AERA Grants Program" from the National Science Foundation under NSF Grant #DRL-1749275. Opinions reflect those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agencies.
Dr. Gandara serves on the Alignment Council for the Dallas County Promise.</span></em></p>New research shines a light on which students are most likely to enroll in community college when they find out it is free.Amy Li, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies, Florida International UniversityDenisa Gandara, Assistant Professor, Southern Methodist University, Southern Methodist UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1299622020-02-25T13:52:03Z2020-02-25T13:52:03ZWhat Americans think about who deserves tuition-free college<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316052/original/file-20200219-11000-1ynyipl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans support free community college more when students are seen as 'deserving,' new research suggests.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/smiling-multi-ethnic-friends-standing-in-corridor-royalty-free-image/1171000286?adppopup=true">Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tuition-free college has gotten a lot of momentum of late. </p>
<p>Front-runners in the Democratic presidential field – including <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/free-college-cancel-debt/">Bernie Sanders</a>, <a href="https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/affordable-higher-education">Elizabeth Warren</a> and <a href="https://joebiden.com/beyondhs/">Joe Biden</a> – have all come out in support of federally funded tuition-free college. </p>
<p>And it isn’t just Democrats. <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/future-statewide-college-promise-programs/?agreed=1">Nineteen states</a> have passed tuition-free college policies, including Republican strongholds Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. So have <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17742653">nearly 300 cities or counties</a>.</p>
<p>But there is <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/report-program-design-key-to-successful-free-college-programs/556511/">still</a> <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/a-promise-fulfilled/">debate</a> about <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/policy-design-matters-rising-free-college-aid/?session=1">who should be eligible</a>. Should there be an income cap, for instance, so that only poor or middle-income families are eligible? Should there be a minimum high school GPA requirement? </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1706015">recently published survey</a>, I found that Americans view tuition-free college more positively when it’s open to everyone – compared to when it is reserved for families who make US$50,000 or less. I also found that the public is more likely to support tuition-free college when it includes a 2.0 minimum high school GPA requirement, or basically a C average.</p>
<h2>Affordability matters</h2>
<p>How the public views tuition-free college matters because colleges are widely seen as <a href="http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/college/">engines of upward economic mobility</a>. Yet, college <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/indicators/reports_2018.shtml">remains out of reach</a> <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-03-20/dropping-out-of-college-why-students-do-so-and-how-to-avoid-it">for many American families</a>, <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/study-lack-of-equity-in-college-access-contributes-to-job-disparities/565390/">especially for</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2018/05/23/451186/neglected-college-race-gap-racial-disparities-among-college-completers/">people of color</a> and <a href="https://www.aacu.org/aacu-news/newsletter/2018/june/facts-figures">the working class</a>.</p>
<p>Policymakers and scholars often differ on the best way to design tuition-free college. Some argue that <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/a-promise-fulfilled/">fairness</a> is the most important consideration. Others stress the need for government to be able <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/future-statewide-college-promise-programs/?agreed=1">pay for the program</a>.</p>
<p>I believe that my research, along with <a href="https://www.freecollegenow.org/polling">other recent polling</a>, is the first to dig into what the American voters actually think about different versions of tuition-free college. And my project, in particular, is the first to speculate as to why.</p>
<p>In my study, I surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,500 Americans in 2017 regarding tuition-free college. Overall, the majority of Republicans (65%) and Democrats/independents (74%) support the idea of tuition-free college. But when asked to consider different versions of tuition-free college, people’s views start to shift.</p>
<p>For instance, when a family income limit is included, respondents were 3.3 percentage points less likely to view the policy as fair, compared to tuition-free college that is open to all students regardless of family income. However, if a 2.0 minimum high school GPA is required to be eligible for tuition-free college, respondents were 6.5 percentage points more likely to view the policy as fair, when compared to tuition-free college that is open to all students regardless of high school GPA.</p>
<p>So why are there these differences in the level of support? I argue that people are evaluating the target population. Research shows that policymakers and the public are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592705580496">more likely to support</a> benefits to groups that are powerful and considered deserving. </p>
<p>Making tuition-free college available to everyone may be <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/free-college-stay/">more politically beneficial</a> to politicians catering to middle-class and high-income voters – two groups that are <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/income-gap-at-the-polls-113997">more likely to vote</a>. But when tuition-free college is made available for everyone, it is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ets2.12161">harder to pay for</a> and <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/highered/research/Documents/Legislative/SB-81-Report-Oregon-Promise-1st-term-2016.pdf">less efficient</a> because when tuition-free college is universal, it gives money to families that could have afforded college anyway. For instance, in Oregon, <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/highered/research/Documents/Legislative/SB-81-Report-Oregon-Promise-1st-term-2016.pdf">more than 60%</a> of the $10.9 million in 2016 for the Oregon Promise – the state’s free community college program – went to students in the highest two income brackets, while students in the lowest two income brackets only used about 17% of the funds. The middle income bracket used about 23% of the funds.</p>
<p>Merit-based policies may be more popular because students who make at least a C average in high school are seen as as more deserving. However, by supporting a C average minimum threshold, these policies also <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/GS_9202018_Free-College.pdf">shut out many students who need help the most</a>.</p>
<p>The critical challenge for policymakers, as I see it, is: How do you design a tuition-free college plan that is perceived as fair, that helps those who need it most and that government can actually afford?</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Bell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As tuition-free college plans gain momentum, a researcher examines public views about whether free college should be extended to everyone or just those who have earned it.Elizabeth Bell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1298592020-02-10T13:58:18Z2020-02-10T13:58:18ZA college president’s advice to college students of the future: Don’t borrow<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313402/original/file-20200203-41532-em8htt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West Texas A&M University Walter V. Wendler stands alongside the SUV he drove on a speaking tour to urge Texas high school students not to borrow too much for college.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Back in 2017, I started regularly leaving my office at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, to speak to high school students in the Texas Panhandle. This past fall, I did the same thing in the South Plains. These two areas are the northern most 46 counties in the state of Texas.</p>
<p>Driving a silver SUV owned by the university, I logged a total of 14,000 miles throughout these two regions over a total of 10 months. I visited 132 high schools with student populations of all sizes.</p>
<p>For instance, in the South Plains tour this past fall, I visited 66 schools that ranged in size from <a href="https://www.lubbockisd.org/lhs">Lubbock High School</a>, where I spoke to 975 juniors and seniors, to <a href="https://www.dawsonisd.net/">Dawson High School</a>, where I spoke with all 12 high school students in ninth through 12th grades.</p>
<p>No matter where I went – and no matter if I spoke with students and families that had a concrete plan for college and others that were less certain – I heard concerns about the cost of higher education.</p>
<p>And my message and response was always the same: “Do not borrow money to attend West Texas A&M University (or any university) for the first two years. If you must borrow, attend community college, but don’t borrow a penny for community college either. Pay as you go.” And I should have added: Live with your parents rent-free as long as possible.</p>
<h2>Planning for the future</h2>
<p>You might think I was simply on a recruiting tour for the university where I serve as president. Yes, of course, I hoped that my visits helped make the university more appealing. My primary purpose, however, was not recruiting students, but helping them determine a long-range plan to enable them to become what I call “<a href="http://walterwendler.com/?s=noble&submit=Search">noble citizens</a>” ready to work, engage, think and vote.</p>
<p>Of course, you can still be a noble citizen and have a lot of debt. It’s just a lot more difficult. If you are saddled with debt, you’re less able to contribute to the community, at least financially, or purchase a home. As I spoke with students, I shared a few statistics to help illustrate the point.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2019/09/30/70-of-college-students-graduate-with-debt-how-did-we-get-here/">Seventy percent of college students</a> graduated with debt in 2019 — on <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2019/09/30/70-of-college-students-graduate-with-debt-how-did-we-get-here/">average, US$30,000</a>.</p>
<p>Some of those graduates will still be paying off their student loans decades later, when they get Social Security checks – either voluntarily or by having those checks garnished. Of <a href="https://www.aarp.org/money/credit-loans-debt/info-2017/student-loans-debt-repayment-retirement.html">Americans</a> over 60, 2.8 million have student loans. While 73% of those are cosigners paying for children or grandchildren, the rest are students paying off their own education loans.</p>
<p>Additionally, a growing number of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-debt-seniors-owe-billions-in-student-loan-debt-this-will-follow-me-to-the-grave/">aging Americans</a> have college debt that they will not pay back before dying. </p>
<p>Default rates for borrowers over 65 are nearly 40%, according to the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/more-older-people-are-bringing-student-debt-into-their-retirement.html">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a>.</p>
<p>Pell Grants, which are federal grants to help low-income students to pay for college, once <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2019/09/30/70-of-college-students-graduate-with-debt-how-did-we-get-here/">covered 79% of tuition and fees in 1975 but only covered 29% by 2017</a> — a downhill slide caused by escalating costs and easy loans.</p>
<h2>Mixed results on borrowing</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.educationnext.org/benefits-of-borrowing-evidence-student-loan-debt-community-college-attainment/">Some studies</a> suggest borrowing yields an increase in credits earned and academic performance. Despite those benefits, other research shows that student loan debt can have a negative, long-term effect on people <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/04/student-debt-is-stopping-u-s-millennials-from-becoming-entrepreneurs">financially</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/122/563/1094/5079467?redirectedFrom=fulltext">emotionally</a>.</p>
<p>I told the students if they must borrow, to never borrow more than 60% of their anticipated starting salary of the first job. This is consistent with what I call the “<a href="http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/about-us/60x30tx/">60% Rule</a>,” which a state higher education agency developed to make sure students don’t borrow more than their degree is worth.</p>
<p>For example, if someone wanted to teach in a small Texas community with a $40,000 starting salary, they should not borrow more than $24,000 to attain a bachelor’s degree. Similar – although more lenient – advice can be found in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencelight/2019/10/04/when-does-student-debt-make-sense-and-when-doesnt-it/#4e596bb71370">Forbes</a>, which urged borrowers to never borrow more than their expected first year salary. (For information about the expected salary for a particular job, check the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>.)</p>
<p>In urging students not to take on too much student debt, I also highlighted other paths – aside from college – to <a href="http://walterwendler.com/2018/05/noble-citizenship/">noble citizenship</a>: military service, certification programs or family businesses.</p>
<h2>A duty to inform</h2>
<p>I recognize the responsibility of university leadership to point out the challenges for students and families when borrowing for education. It is difficult for middle-income families to pay the increasing costs of a college education. Informed borrowing is the key issue for students. The need is highlighted for students who are first in their family to attend college and may accept the advice that any college degree is worth whatever it costs. It is not true. And, it is an unfair burden for university leadership to place on students.</p>
<p>But if students borrow for college, in my view, they should be aware that they are possibly being sucked into what I like to call a troubling triangle of treachery.</p>
<p>One side of the triangle is represented by elected officials who <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/09/26/growing-number-democrats-run-free-college-pushing-issue-mainstream">encourage everyone to go to college</a>.</p>
<p>The second side is represented by lenders, who – in my view – do little to assess an individual’s ability to repay a student loan. If a student borrows to enroll in a program, limits placed on amounts borrowed are <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/much-borrow-college/">quite high</a> when federal and private loans are combined. And they tend to treat all college degrees, and by inference, employment opportunities as equal. Yet, the employment marketplace reveals that is not the case.</p>
<p>The third side is represented by university leadership, which – in my view – has not done enough to let students know the pitfalls of borrowing.</p>
<p>A student’s indebtedness is eventually their own responsibility. Debt responsibility will not disappear for the student – or for parents who are helping them. It’s their responsibility too.</p>
<p>Just ask the 44 million Americans, many of whom <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/13/681621047/college-completion-rates-are-up-but-the-numbers-will-still-surprise-you">did not graduate</a>, who owe <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/02/25/student-loan-debt-statistics-2019/#30f6f067133f">$1.5 trillion in student loan debt</a>.</p>
<p>The tour was a learning experience. The value proposition of American higher education is changing. I saw it in the eyes of 20,000 students across 14,000 miles. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129859/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Walter V. Wendler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler set out to visit high school students throughout the Texas Panhandle and the South Plains with a simple message about student loans.Walter V. Wendler, President, West Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1291162020-01-08T12:20:04Z2020-01-08T12:20:04ZWhat happens when community college is made free<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/308456/original/file-20200103-11914-1honq3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Free community college proposals are gaining attention. But do they work? And if so, for whom?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/long-beach-city-college-graduates-enter-veterans-memorial-news-photo/1154261548?adppopup=true">MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Policymakers and presidential hopefuls are having a spirited debate over whether the U.S. should offer free community college, free public college in general or additional college subsidies directed at low-income students.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/policies-and-payoffs-to-addressing-americas-college-graduation-deficit/">recent paper</a>, my coauthors Chris Avery, Jessica Howell, Matea Pender and I looked at these scenarios.</p>
<p>We found that free community college would increase the number of people graduating with associate degrees, but it would also likely decrease the number of people completing bachelor’s degrees because students would shift away from four-year schools in favor of free tuition. </p>
<h2>Community college is already virtually free</h2>
<p>For the vast majority of low-income students, community college is already effectively tuition-free. Many students qualify for the maximum annual Pell Grant award, which is currently <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell">US$6,195</a>. Even in a high-cost state like New Hampshire – where I live – this would almost cover full-time tuition and fees. In many other states, the Pell Grant is actually greater than the cost of tuition and fees at community colleges.</p>
<p>The College Board <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing">estimates</a> that across the U.S. the average sticker price for full-time public two-year college tuition and fees is $3,730. The average net price – that is, what students pay after they get grant and scholarship aid – is negative $430. In other words, students receive the extra amount to pay for books or living expenses. </p>
<h2>Students behave differently when they know college is free</h2>
<p>Taking into account that actual tuition and fees are already essentially free, could there still be significant effects when students know for certain that their schooling will cost nothing? Yes. </p>
<p>That was the finding of Susan Dynarksi, Katherine Michelmore, Stephanie Owen and C.J. Libassi, of the College Board, in their <a href="http://www.edpolicy.umich.edu/files/12-2018-closing-the-gap.pdf">free college experiment</a> at the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>In the Michigan experiment, researchers contacted low-income, high-achieving students who were likely admissible to University of Michigan to let them know they had four years of guaranteed free tuition and fees. This is aid that the students likely would have received anyway had they taken the usual steps to apply to the University of Michigan and apply for financial aid. But the simplicity of the process and the guarantee increased the number of students who enrolled at the University of Michigan by 15 percentage points. The rate at which students did not enroll in any college fell by four percentage points.</p>
<h2>More people go to college when community college is free</h2>
<p>Researchers have studied the impacts of announcing that college will be free in <a href="https://ogurantz.github.io/website/Gurantz_2019_OregonPromise.pdf">Oregon</a> (Gurantz), <a href="http://web.utk.edu/%7Eccarrut1/Carruthers_Fox_May2015b.pdf">Tennessee</a> (Carruthers and Fox) and <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/paper_2.pdf">Massachusetts</a> (Goodman and Cohodes).</p>
<p>The potential good news is that more students were drawn into college by the policy. In Tennessee, an additional 2.5 percentage points of each high school graduating year decided to enroll in community college. Yet another 2.5% of the cohort were drawn from four-year institutions into community colleges. This could be seen as a problem because researchers find the likelihood of <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/690818">earning a bachelor’s degree or higher earnings is increased</a> by starting out at more selective institutions with higher graduation rates than community colleges.</p>
<p>The point of my <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/policies-and-payoffs-to-addressing-americas-college-graduation-deficit/">research</a> was to see what would happen if there was a national free community college policy. </p>
<p>My research team found that free community college does boost the overall rate of obtaining an associate degree – from 5.8 to 7.0 percentage points of students that could enroll. But, just as it occurred in Tennessee, bachelor’s degree completion falls by 1 percentage point as students are shifted away from four-year colleges. Low-income students – that is, those with family incomes of less than $40,000 per year – are impacted the least since the true price of attending community college does not change much for these students.</p>
<p>Some of the other policies we examine have better bang for the buck than free community college. Guaranteeing free community college for all would cost about $200 per graduating high school senior. Our research found that using that same $200 per person on increased spending per pupil at public two- and four-year colleges raises the number of students who earn both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, regardless of their family income. The rate of students who earn bachelor’s degrees would rise by one percentage point.</p>
<p>The increased spending would be for more student support, such as mentors, and increased availability of classes. Such increases in spending can be <a href="http://www.wm.edu/sites/socialmobility/_documents/session_iv_deming.pdf">highly effective</a> at helping students make it through college and to graduation.</p>
<p>Alternatively, making college free at four-year public colleges for students with family incomes of less than $60,000 per year, raises the percentage of low-income students who earn a bachelor’s degree from 25% to 28%, according to our research.</p>
<p>Making a service free to everyone – regardless of income – can be an attractive and simple policy. But targeted polices – like giving free college to those for whom it will do the most good – can often provide a larger positive impact for the same amount of spending.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Sacerdote does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Free community college is touted as a way to make college more accessible. But research shows making community college free comes at a cost to four-year colleges.Bruce Sacerdote, Professor of Economics, Dartmouth CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190732019-07-18T11:24:04Z2019-07-18T11:24:04ZWashington state’s big bet on ‘free college’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284105/original/file-20190715-173334-1pcxqcs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Washington state has passed a measure to cover college tuition for students from low- and moderate-income families.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seattle-washington-usa-april-4-2019-1389435113?src=GEf_FVDB9mvWw3XcLdJzkA-1-24&studio=1">VDB Photos/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Washington state doesn’t have a problem finding educated people to work in its booming high-tech economy – it’s just most of those people come from out of state.</p>
<p>This is why Washington enacted the landmark <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/2158-S2.SL.pdf">Workforce Education Investment Act</a> into law in May 2019.</p>
<p>The main idea behind the new law is to make college more affordable. It does so by providing state aid grants that will cover much or all of tuition for more Washington resident students – 36,000 more by 2021 who are eligible based on their income, according to a Senate source with knowledge of the plan. This will be done through the new Washington College Grant. </p>
<p>The bill was passed at a time when several presidential candidates are pushing <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/2020-democrats-free-college/583585/">ambitious plans</a> on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2019/04/24/the-2020-presidential-candidates-proposals-for-student-loan-debt/#40402512520e">college affordability</a>. Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, himself a presidential candidate, has said the bill puts Washington state <a href="https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-signs-package-of-education-bills-ushers-in-one-of-the-most-progressive-education-87f2a490d755">“ahead of the nation”</a> in providing college access, but has not made it a centerpiece of his campaign.</p>
<p>I’m the author of a book about <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&channel=tus&q=financing+american+higher+education+in+the+era+of+globalization">how states finance higher education</a>. Here are what I see as the most significant aspects of what has been described as Washington state’s <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/could-you-go-to-college-tuition-free-in-washington-heres-how-to-find-out/">“free college” plan</a>. </p>
<h2>1. Businesses will pay for it</h2>
<p>Since the new Workforce Investment Act will benefit employers, they’re the ones who are going to pay most for it. Firms hiring workers with advanced skills will pay various amounts more in business taxes. For instance, under the new law, advanced computing businesses with gross revenues over US$100 billion – meaning Amazon and Microsoft – will <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2158-S2.E%20SBR%20APS%2019.pdf#page=1">pay the highest rates on their state business taxes</a>. Under the new law, both firms will pay an increase of two-thirds on what they already pay in business taxes, up to a $7 million annual limit per firm. </p>
<p>If it seems unusual that this tax surcharge is directed at specific firms, that’s because it is. The firms’ <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/how-the-business-community-can-support-higher-education-funding/">willingness to pay increased tax rates</a> in order to produce more of the workers they need at home was a big factor in building legislative support for the new tax. Employers in Washington state have long complained about the “skills gap”: that is, <a href="https://www.waroundtable.com/wa-kids-wa-jobs/">how hard it is to find skilled workers locally</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, the state <a href="https://www.wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2017.ASkilledAndEducatedWorkforce.pdf#page=8">ranks third in the nation</a> for attracting workers from elsewhere with a bachelor’s degree or higher. But when it comes to producing an educated workforce among its own citizens, Washington comes up short. It is in the <a href="https://wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/KeyFacts2012.pdf#page=67">bottom 10 states</a> in producing college graduates.</p>
<h2>2. Funding for financial aid is guaranteed</h2>
<p>One of the most significant features of the new law is that it <a href="https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-signs-package-of-education-bills-ushers-in-one-of-the-most-progressive-education-87f2a490d755">guarantees</a> for the first time that funding will actually be available to cover the grants. This is important because, since the Great Recession, the state has been unable to fund all of the eligible students who applied for the State Need Grant. In 2018, for instance, more than a quarter of eligible applicants, some 22,600, were <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2158-S2.E%20SBR%20APS%2019.pdf#page=2">turned away</a>. This has been <a href="https://www.kitsapsun.com/story/news/2019/05/11/financial-aid-fixes-mean-guaranteed-tuition-states-neediest-students/1166670001/">deeply unpopular</a>.</p>
<p>The fact that the grant money is guaranteed may lead students – especially first-generation college students – to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002764217744821">do more to prepare for college</a>, because they know the cost is covered, according to to research by Laura Perna, a higher education researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.</p>
<h2>3. More money, fewer rules</h2>
<p>Washington state’s new college affordability initiative differs from the “free college” efforts being undertaken by other states such as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002764217744821">Tennessee and Oregon</a>. In other states, such as these, Rhode Island and, soon, Massachusetts, the “free college” initiatives are mostly limited to <a href="https://tcf.org/content/commentary/states-continue-push-ahead-free-college/">tuition-free community college</a> for some students. But in Washington state, the Workforce Education Investment Act provides money for students to attend not only a community college, but four-year public and private colleges and universities.</p>
<p>Other states’ free college initiatives, for the most part, are “last dollar” programs. The most prominent example is Tennessee. In last dollar programs, the state money students get is applied toward their college costs only after they have gotten other financial aid, such as federally administered Pell Grants. These last dollar state grants typically cover only tuition and cannot be applied to living costs.</p>
<p>The new Washington program, however, offers “first dollar” grants. This allows students to apply Pell and other aid to college costs besides tuition, such as books, room and board, and transportation. This lowers the amount that students have to borrow for college. </p>
<p>Also, unlike in some states’ “free college” programs, there is no residency requirement after graduation. This is not the case in, for example, New York, where students who get their tuition covered by an <a href="https://www.ny.gov/programs/tuition-free-degree-program-excelsior-scholarship">Excelsior Scholarship</a> must live and work in New York for the same number of years that they received the scholarship. Otherwise, their scholarship becomes a repayable loan.</p>
<p>The new law also seeks to help those who need training that doesn’t necessarily involve college. For instance, students can use the grants for <a href="https://www.apprenticeship.gov/registered-apprenticeship-program">Registered Apprenticeship</a> programs, which sometimes charge tuition. The act also provides substantial new money – $11.5 million for the next two-year budget cycle – for <a href="https://careerconnectwa.org/">Career Connect Washington</a>, an effort to bring employers and educators together to design programs that emphasize the skills employers seek.</p>
<h2>Will it work?</h2>
<p>Washington state already keeps tuition from rising more than the rate at which average wages grow. Now, with this new initiative that provides state aid grants to more students, the state is attacking the college affordability issue on multiple fronts.</p>
<p>The grant program is being funded by <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2158-S2.E%20SBR%20APS%2019.pdf#page=6">$162.7 million</a> that has been set aside to finance the new student aid grants over the 2019-21 budget cycle. This is beyond the roughly $648 million reserved for the current grant program and represents a significant 25% gain in a state that was already a <a href="https://www.nassgapsurvey.com/survey_reports/2016-2017-48th.pdf#page=24">college aid leader</a>. </p>
<p>The new college grants will be made available beginning in the 2020-21 school year to students with <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2158-S2.E%20SBR%20APS%2019.pdf#page=3">family incomes up to the state median</a>, which is $92,000 for a family of four, according to the Washington Student Achievement Council. Under the old grant program, the cutoff was at 70% of the median.</p>
<p>The Workforce Education Investment Act also provides <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2158-S2.E%20SBR%20APS%2019.pdf#page=6">$17.1 million in funding</a> for more seats in college programs in high-demand fields, such as nursing and IT. It also provides for increased faculty salaries in those fields.</p>
<p>Given student living costs, there is no guarantee that Washington College Grant recipients will graduate debt-free. And it remains to be seen whether the Workforce Education Investment Act will pay off in the way that employers hope. But through the program, Washington state seems better poised than it was before to ensure that its own citizens are able to get one of the state’s high-paying jobs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Zumeta received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a project relevant to the design of the Career Connect Washington program. </span></em></p>A new law in Washington state that makes college mostly free for many students is meant to prepare more residents from the state for jobs in the local economy. Whether it will work remains to be seen.William Zumeta, Professor of Public Policy and Governance and Professor of Education, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1040512018-10-31T10:40:16Z2018-10-31T10:40:16ZThinking about borrowing against your home to send your kids to college? Think again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243698/original/file-20181102-83651-91p4h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers found that families who send their children off to college face an increased risk for foreclosure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/parents-helping-teenage-son-pack-college-184855727?src=ubyjeY5Qg3MdUQ5mxhIvQQ-1-1">Monkey Business Images/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the time comes to send their children off to college, many parents in the U.S. take out loans, draw from savings and earnings and – as some financial advisors recommend – borrow against their homes.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13524-018-0702-7">study</a> we published earlier this year, we found a hidden danger that parents face when they borrow heavily to pay for their children’s college education.</p>
<p>We are sociologists who specialize in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=d816HY4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">housing and the Great Recession</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mdERDMIAAAAJ&hl=en">structural inequalities</a> in access to education.</p>
<p>For our study, we leveraged foreclosure data and tax return data to show that, between 2006 and 2011, a 1 percent increase in college attendance among 19-year-olds was followed consistently by about 19,000 additional foreclosures the following year nationwide.</p>
<h2>Odds of foreclosure double</h2>
<p>We also used three independent data sets tracking individual households over time to confirm the connection between college attendance and foreclosure. We found that the odds of foreclosure are twice as high among homeowners with a child in college, even after we account for their income, mortgage interest rate, the presence of other children, race, householders’ education and marital status, and region. </p>
<p>These foreclosures are not explained by the sub-prime lending that led to the Great Recession and the unemployment that followed, according to our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13524-018-0702-7">research</a>.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13524-018-0702-7">analysis</a> also accounts for other concurrent changes in economic, demographic and housing conditions, as well as state-level changes in tuition and student debt accumulation. </p>
<h2>Tuition rises</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429968372/chapters/10.4324%2F9780429499821-10">value of a college education</a> is well-established. Compared to workers with a high school degree or less, college degree holders receive a substantial wage premium that pays <a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/rest.90.2.300">lifelong dividends</a> in health, security and wealth accumulation. </p>
<p>This may explain why, between 1980 and 2014, college enrollment among high school graduates has increased 16.3 percentage points even as average inflation-adjusted tuition for two- and four-year institutions <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016014.pdf">more than doubled</a>.</p>
<p>The sharp rise in tuition coincided with a well-documented increase in student debt and an effort by many institutions of higher learning to institute a sliding scale for tuition, based on need. This scale uses an algorithmically determined <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/05/opinion/columnists/what-college-really-costs.html">net tuition price</a>, which is adjusted by grants and other financial aid.</p>
<p>Even with these offsets, families often still confront a large <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/next-steps/how-calculated#efc">“expected family contribution</a>.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, we find that the statistical relationship between college attendance and foreclosures is consistent across income levels. This suggests that, all else being equal, sliding scale tuition and need-based offsets may not be enough to make college affordable for poor, middle-class and even affluent households.</p>
<p>For many families, investments in education and homeownership – pillars of the American dream – require taking on tremendous amounts of debt with the promise of improved economic status. In an era of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/07/opinion/leonhardt-income-inequality.html">widening inequality</a>, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-evolution-of-household-income-volatility-3/">increasing income instability</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/us/politics/trump-budget-cuts.html">retracting social welfare policy</a>, this promise has become far less secure. A question policymakers and college financial offices ought to ask is whether it’s a good idea for families to basically put up their homes to pay for their children’s college education.</p>
<p>This question is particularly relevant given the decades-long trend of increasing tuition.</p>
<p>Some have suggested that college spending must be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/opinion/trustees-tuition-lazy-rivers.html">reined in</a>. Others argue that college financial aid must become <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/20/should-college-be-free">more generous</a>. Both approaches would help reduce the pressure for families to borrow against their homes to send their children to college.</p>
<p><a href="https://whyy.org/articles/tuition-free-community-colleges-public-universities-proposed-in-pa/">Proposals for free tuition</a> for low- and moderate-income households are also an important part of the solution. The need for such efforts is even more evident in light of the fact that <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/a-lost-decade-in-higher-education-funding">many states have increased tuition</a> since the Great Recession. Further, state funds for higher education are still below pre-recession levels in <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/a-lost-decade-in-higher-education-funding">all but five states</a> – Indiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.</p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>The fact that so many foreclosures are connected to college attendance also shines light on why the federal policy response to foreclosures was <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10511482.2012.749933">relatively ineffective</a>. Foreclosure prevention needs to look at more than mortgage terms. Rather, foreclosure prevention must also deal with a broader range of financial burdens that cause families to overextend themselves financially. </p>
<p>Anti-predatory lending policies, which have been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2011.00556.x">shown to rein in unscrupulous lenders</a>, should also be expanded and strengthened. And mortgage lender reporting requirements, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/22/613390275/congress-to-undo-part-of-dodd-frank-easing-rules-for-mid-sized-smaller-banks">under assault</a> from a business-first and consumer-last administration and Republican Congress, must continue. </p>
<p>As novel as our findings may be, they might not fully reflect the consequences of rising college costs. For instance, the <a href="https://ticas.org/content/pub/student-debt-and-class-2017">growing amounts of student debt</a> may pose a threat to housing stability for college graduates in the future.</p>
<p>Indeed, research has shown that higher rates of student loan debt are associated with <a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2017/04/diplomas-to-doorsteps-education-student-debt-and-homeownership.html">lower rates of homeownership</a>. In essence, what this could mean is one generation will be barely holding onto their homes to put their kids through college, while their kids may find themselves so saddled with student loan debt that they are ultimately unable to buy a home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob William Faber receives funding from The Russell Sage Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Our work on this project was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation (Award 83-14-09).</span></em></p>The odds of foreclosure double for families who send their kids off to college, according to two researchers who say their findings show a need for new ways for Americans pay for higher education.Jacob William Faber, Assistant Professor, New York UniversityPeter Rich, Assistant Professor, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/982842018-08-29T10:47:20Z2018-08-29T10:47:20ZMaking college more affordable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227517/original/file-20180712-27021-sf3pco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Has the cost of higher education in the U.S. put college out of financial reach?
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/investment-education-concept-conception-fee-expenses-659689999?src=2xQeZglNENWOjh3EuWS-Ww-6-0">DRogatnev/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: When it comes to the cost of higher education in the U.S., signs of trouble abound.</em></p>
<p><em>For instance, states now <a href="http://www.sheeo.org/news/sheeo-releases-state-higher-education-finance-fy-2017">rely more heavily on tuition</a> to finance their public colleges and universities than on government funding.</em> </p>
<p><em>Private colleges and universities are also struggling to make ends meet, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/30/nacubo-report-finds-tuition-discounting-again">steering a record amount of tuition revenue</a> toward grant aid for economically needy students.</em> </p>
<p><em>Meanwhile, the number of student borrowers who defaulted on their student loans <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-national-student-loan-fy-2014-cohort-default-rate">edged up</a> last year as did the <a href="https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2017-trends-in-college-pricing_1.pdf">price of higher education itself</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>So we asked our panel of presidents – from Xavier University of Louisiana, Colorado College and Penn State: Given this reality, what are the top two or three things that you believe need to happen to make college more affordable – particularly for low-income students, students of color and the working class?</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>More than one funder has to step up</h2>
<p><strong>Jill Tiefenthaler, President of Colorado College</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233953/original/file-20180828-86141-1ugxh71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jill Tiefenthaler, president of Colorado College.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.coloradocollege.edu/us/giving/campaign/phonecast.html">Colorado College</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A college education has many funders. Federal and state governments provide support, as do the institutions of higher education themselves. And then, of course, there is the money paid by the students’ families. Improving access will require additional support from one or more of these sources.</p>
<p>To start at the local level, an increase in state funding would make college more affordable. After all <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_303.70.asp">over 70 percent of all undergraduates</a> attend public institutions, and historically, states have been the primary source of funding for both two- and four-year public institutions.</p>
<p>However, states have <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/higher-ed-lower-spending-as-states-cut-back-where-has-money-gone/">reduced their support in recent years</a> and, as a result, the burden has fallen on students and their families. The <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-many-new-yorkers-are-benefiting-from-the-states-free-college-plan-2017-10-03">“free college”</a> plans in New York and a <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/01/05/why-free-college-tuition-is-spreading-from-cities-to-states">few other states</a> are examples of commitments to improve access. However, given the pressure on budgets resulting from underfunded pensions, Medicaid and K-12, I am not optimistic that students can count on increased support from states. In addition, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-new-tax-law-affects-homeowners-it-could-be-more-than-you-think-2018-02-05">recent tax changes</a> that limit federal deductions for state taxes will increase pressure to keep state income and property tax rates down, further hindering state funding.</p>
<p>Additional support from the federal government, by increasing the <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell">Pell Grant</a> program, could make a big difference. The maximum Pell Grant for the 2018-19 academic year is $6,095. This is sufficient to cover the annual tuition at most community colleges. For example, the average tuition at <a href="https://www.ppcc.edu">the community college in my city</a> is $4,651. However, only students with family incomes of less than $60,000 qualify and the amount of the grant declines significantly as family income increases. Increasing the income cut-off and providing the full $6,095 to all who qualify would make college much more accessible for low- and middle-income students.</p>
<p>Private nonprofit colleges and universities educate <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_303.70.asp">about 20 percent of all undergraduates</a>. The “sticker price” at these institutions gives the impression that they are not accessible to low- and middle-income students. However, privates provide significant institutional aid. </p>
<p>The major source of this support is philanthropy, made up of earnings on endowments and annual gifts. Private institutions with smaller endowments also provide aid from tuition revenue by using the revenue from some students to provide financial aid to other students. However, increasing institutional aid by using tuition revenue is not sustainable. Therefore, the key to making private institutions more affordable is increasing endowments through philanthropy. Although it is true that the new <a href="https://econofact.org/the-university-endowment-tax-who-will-pay-it-and-why-was-it-implemented">“endowment tax”</a> on large endowments and any changes to the tax deduction for charitable giving reduce the funds available for financial aid. In addition, private institutions could reduce “merit aid” – aid that is awarded on the basis of academic, athletic or artistic merit – and reallocate those funds to need-based financial aid. </p>
<p>Of course, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/05/26/forget-the-marketing-gimmicks-its-time-for-colleges-to-cut-costs/">some may argue</a> that rather than finding new sources of revenue, colleges could simply cut their costs and reduce tuition. This would make college more affordable but it would also reduce the quality of the education provided. </p>
<p>Higher education is a very competitive market, and students and their families demand quality – as they should. We must do our best to educate students in a global environment, keeping pace with technological innovations, teaching critical thinking, fostering comfort with ambiguity, and graduating nimble leaders who will thrive in a rapidly changing era.</p>
<hr>
<h2>What needs discussing is the total cost of a degree</h2>
<p><strong>Eric Barron, President of Pennsylvania State University</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233958/original/file-20180828-86138-9iqxkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eric Barron, president of The Pennsylvania State University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://president.psu.edu/biography.html">The Pennsylvania State University</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The high level of tuition in U.S. universities can be blamed on many factors. On top of <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/higher-ed-lower-spending-as-states-cut-back-where-has-money-gone/">shrinking state appropriations</a> there are more technology-intensive degrees in every field; an <a href="https://news.psu.edu/story/475363/2017/07/21/administration/trustees-hear-update-proposed-university-capital-plan">aging campus infrastructure;</a> a sharp increase in compliance and <a href="https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/reg-stats">regulations</a> reporting; and soaring health care costs.</p>
<p>University administrators should be deeply concerned that our price is limiting access to an education that enables upward mobility. Interestingly, the conversation on access and affordability seems to be fixated on controlling, first and foremost, the increase in tuition. We need to broaden the framing of this discussion considerably.</p>
<p>The first step is to change the conversation to one of the total cost of a degree. The simple fact is that timely completion of a degree is a critical mechanism to control total cost. A tuition increase pales in comparison to going to school for another year.</p>
<p>The second step is to recognize that the only thing worse than going five and six years in order to graduate, is to accumulate debt and drop out before graduation.</p>
<p>Universities like Penn State are justifiably proud of their <a href="https://budget.psu.edu/factbook/StudentDynamic/gradretratesummary.aspx?&ratetype=grad&repyear=2017&YearCode=2015&FBPlusIndc=N">high graduation rates</a>. However, when you dig deeper, you discover that first-generation, need-based students have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-graduation-rates-lag-for-low-income-college-students-96182">a dramatically lower graduation rate</a> than most of their peers. At Penn State, they graduate 22 percentage points below the average. We can point to many factors that cause [this graduation gap], but it’s clearly not due to lack of ambition.</p>
<p>Sixty-two percent of these students work an average of 22 hours a week, usually at minimum wage jobs, so they can’t take a full credit load. It is impossible to graduate in four years. They drop classes more frequently than other students and tend to have lower grades because of their work load. Sadly, they also don’t have time to participate in advantageous activities, such as research or internships. They get discouraged. They either give up or end up attending a fifth or sixth year at a significant cost. If they graduate, they have paid more and gotten less from the experience than other students.</p>
<p>Our universities need a laser-like focus on mitigating all factors that slow the time to the completion of a degree. Every student should have access to financial literacy advisers and tools that help students take the most cost-efficient way to achieve a degree. We need “completion” programs to be a priority and not allow students to slip away because of finances or other hardships.</p>
<p>We can serve our mission of upward mobility and save students millions in costs and debt if we help every student, regardless of financial capability, to graduate, and graduate on time.</p>
<hr>
<h2>The importance of pre-collegiate preparation</h2>
<p><strong>Reynold Verret, President of Xavier University of Louisiana</strong> </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/233948/original/file-20180828-86129-1yc9gx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.xula.edu/president/">Xavier University</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By 2020, nearly <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED584413.pdf">two-thirds</a> of jobs will require postsecondary education. Yet, fewer than <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_603.20.asp">45 percent of adult Americans</a> currently have earned an associate degree or higher, as reported in national data.</p>
<p>The cost of higher education and its impact on access and opportunity is a major barrier to more students earning degrees. Talent and ability are not relegated to those of higher means. Our present challenge is to assure education and opportunity for students from all backgrounds. Sadly, we as a nation have been comfortable with very good schools for the haves and less than good ones for the have-nots. </p>
<p>On the federal level, <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell">Pell awards</a> should be increased and eligibility expanded for students with the greatest need. Pell awards should also be allowed to continue to apply during the summer terms so that students persist and graduate on time. </p>
<p>On average, an American student takes 5.1 years to earn the bachelor’s degree. <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/signaturereport11/">Time to degree completion</a> has increased over the past decades due to a number of factors, such as the need to work and inadequate pre-collegiate schooling. Each extra year increases the cost of the bachelor’s degree by 25 percent. The time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree could be reduced if students didn’t have to take courses to acquire math and language skills that are normally mastered in high school.</p>
<p>Bold steps are needed. This includes building an equitable K-12 educational pipeline that provides better college readiness for all of America’s students. Quality K-12 requires great teachers who remain in the profession and teach in schools with the greatest need. The teaching profession must be elevated and the nation’s best students should be encouraged to become teachers. For their service, school loans should be forgiven or repaid. Colleges and universities should also create postsecondary certificates and credentials meeting the needs of students entering careers that do not require college degrees.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/">HBCU</a> where I serve as president, Xavier University of Louisiana, has been leading the nation in educating <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/a-prescription-for-more-black-doctors.html">African-Americans who go on to achieve medical degrees</a>. The school also excels in preparing students who achieve Ph.D.s in the STEM fields. A 2017 study has ranked the university <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/opinion/sunday/americas-great-working-class-colleges.html">6th in the nation</a> for social mobility, whereby students from the lower 40 percent of the U.S. income distribution enter the upper 40 percent. Our success and the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Are-Black-Colleges-Doing-/243119">success of other HBCUs</a> should dispel any notion that talent is associated with socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>The education of our citizens is not only an individual but a collective benefit: America thrives if it develops all of its talent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jill Tiefenthaler is affiliated with the National Association of Colleges and Universities (NAICU), serving as treasurer and on its executive committee; and with the Annapolis Group, serving as chair of its board of directors. She has received funding from foundations in support of education and research. These include Blue Shield of California Foundation and National Consortium for Violence Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric J. Barron is currently a member of the University Corp. for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Board of Trustees, APLU Board of Directors, CICEP Chair, College Football Play-off (CFP) Board of Managers, Council on Competitiveness: EMCP Steering Committee, Universities Research Association (URA), Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors and American Talent Initiative (ATI). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reynold Verret and Xavier University of Louisiana receives and has received funding from federal agencies and foundations in support of education and research. These include the NIH, NSF, NASA, DOD and the Howard Hughes Medical institute</span></em></p>As students head back to campus, the ever higher cost of a college education is once again top of mind. The presidents of Colorado College, Penn State and Xavier University weigh in on what’s to be done.Jill Tiefenthaler, President, Colorado CollegeEric J. Barron, President, Penn StateReynold Verret, President, Xavier University of Louisiana, Xavier University of LouisianaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/709002017-01-12T02:11:18Z2017-01-12T02:11:18ZFree college explained in a global context<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152430/original/image-20170111-4591-1ckw9ot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a proposal for free tuition at state colleges.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Mary Altaffer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New York Governor <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/nyregion/free-tuition-new-york-colleges-plan.html?_r=0">Andrew M. Cuomo recently pledged</a> to make undergraduate education at the the City University of New York (CUNY) and the State University of New York (SUNY) system free for families making less than US$120,000 annually. </p>
<p>If this happens, it wouldn’t be the first time that undergraduate education has been free in New York. For most of its history, up until the 1970s when New York City was in dire financial straits and the state had to step in to bail out the City University of New York, <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/6444-could-cuny-be-tuition-free-again">CUNY was free</a> to many of the city’s residents. </p>
<p>And this is not just the case in New York. College has been tuition-free in other states as well. In 2014, Tennessee governor Bill Haslam promised <a href="http://tnpromise.gov/">to provide free community college</a> to all residents in his state. He has delivered on the promise, making Tennessee a model state in this area. </p>
<p>In a country where student debt and the rising cost of the college degree grab national headlines on a weekly basis, efforts to make college “free” can also get attention. In truth, however, a large part of tuition costs are already subsidized in the U.S. through a combination of grants, tax breaks and loans. What causes waves is the ever-increasing sticker price, rather than what students actually pay. </p>
<p>My interest, as a scholar of global education policy, is understanding how college costs in the U.S. compare to those of the rest of the world. The fact is that nowhere is college truly free. The critical difference is whether the bulk of the costs are born by the student or by the government.</p>
<p>So, what are some of the changes taking place globally as countries try to manage college costs? </p>
<h2>Who pays?</h2>
<p>Some countries follow a model similar to the U.S. by charging high tuition rates but then defraying the costs for certain students with grants, loans or tax incentives. </p>
<p>As to which country charges students the most, that depends on how one does the calculations. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152431/original/image-20170111-4591-1lkg862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Numbers don’t tell the full story of college costs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success">Piggy bank image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Let’s look at the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance-19991487.htm">“2015 Education at a Glance”</a> report from the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/about/">Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)</a>. The report shows that public colleges in England charged the highest fees, when factoring in public aid, to domestic students (approximately ($9,000), followed by the U.S. ($8,200), Japan ($5,100), South Korea ($4,700) and Canada ($4,700).</p>
<p>But the numbers alone do not tell the full story.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.expertmarket.co.uk/most-expensive-places-for-university">simple comparison</a> between the total cost of tuition fees and the median self-reported income of the country reveals a very different picture: Hungary becomes the most expensive country, with 92 percent of median income going toward the cost of education, followed closely by Romania and Estonia. The U.S. ranks sixth on this listing. (This calculation does not factor in <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance-19991487.htm">loans and grants</a>.) </p>
<h2>Low or no tuition models</h2>
<p>Some countries take a very different approach, charging no or low tuition fees. According to the <a href="http://gse.buffalo.edu/org/inthigheredfinance/project_profiles.html">International Higher Education Finance</a>, a project sponsored by the <a href="http://www.rockinst.org">Rockefeller Institute of Government</a>, more than 40 countries offer free or nearly free post-secondary education to domestic students. These include Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, Uruguay, Scotland and Turkey.</p>
<p>A variety of approaches are used to fund higher education in these countries, such as imposing high taxes or making use of their significant natural resources (e.g., oil and natural gas reserves) to provide the financial resources for extensive social investment. </p>
<p>In other places, such as Germany, an egalitarian philosophy and deeply held beliefs about the value of a public education preclude the government from shifting costs to the students. In Germany, for example, there was a short-lived effort from 2005-2014 to charge minimal tuition, which was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/04/tuition-fees-germany-higher-education">rolled back</a> after a major public outcry. Germans strongly believe that higher education is a public good to be totally subsidized the government.</p>
<p>The point being in these countries students pay very little for post-secondary education – a policy shift going on in the U.S. </p>
<h2>The UK: A divided approach</h2>
<p>There have been attempts in other countries to shift some of the cost of higher education to students. </p>
<p>Following the great recession in 2012, England, for example, <a href="researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00917/SN00917.pdf">tripled tuition</a> in one year to approximately $11,000 (9000 pounds). The intent was to offset steep declines in government funding. Despite a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/thousands-put-off-by-university-tuition-fees-8025990.html">significant outcry</a> by students and other critics, these high tuition costs have stayed. </p>
<p>In fact, England <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2015.htm">recently</a> surpassed the U.S. in terms of having the highest tuition fees of the 34 countries in the industrialized world. While the sticker price for many U.S. institutions is higher, financial aid helps bring down the total cost. </p>
<p>However, England’s “sister country” Scotland continues to provide more substantial subsidies for higher education, providing domestic students with <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-23279868">free access</a> to college while at the same time charging significant fees to students from elsewhere in the U.K. </p>
<h2>What about international students?</h2>
<p>The free tuition debate typically is domestically focused, but it can spill over into <a href="http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors#.WHaml32GzLg">affecting international students</a>. There are now more than one million international students in the US – comprising about 5.2 percent of the total number of college students. </p>
<p>The question now facing policymakers globally is whether to extend the concept of free college to international students or to let them be a source of additional revenues to offset costs of domestic students.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-losing-its-dominance-in-global-higher-education-market-46721">no-tuition and low-cost tuition models</a> have emerged as competitive advantages for attracting international students in many countries. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="http://www.marketplace.org/2015/04/01/education/learning-curve/american-students-head-germany-free-college">growing number</a> of U.S. students are pursuing their degree outside of the U.S. in countries such as Germany and Scotland as they look for ways to escape the rising cost of college at home. Even though some U.S. students can receive subsidies to offset their education, those in the middle- and upper-income levels tend to receive minimal support and are also most likely to see studying abroad as a possibility. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152433/original/image-20170111-4601-gokazu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What do the costs mean for international students?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityofpg/6162937613/in/photolist-aoAED4-aoAzHg-aoDjdA-dtzJCf-axDRtC-qPVSh8-aoDoNd-aoACyR-5B7RpA-j5aLgf-j5aLmf-aktkJq-9sUSXH-5RoJt1-aoABXe-aoDoU9-aoDfsm-bmVW27-5fHqKf-4Xfd1n-aoDie1-aoAxGp-j56wca-aoAyo4-aoAB68-aoAAsv-oU56K8-aoACgx-aoDi93-rcBamj-aoDggS-oU41KH-79A4J2-6HkJob-pbwmKA-rPkTW2-5fCNVr-5fHiaf-5B3A2R-5fCVNk-aoAvRH-axDRTh-5fCNvk-9dfKsM-8Fcjz8-CNAGm-hJoJXx-iSQkYb-6PALBd-hJoxuU">City of Prince George</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>New Zealand <a href="http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/education-at-a-glance-2016/indicator-c4-who-studies-abroad-and-where_eag-2016-26-en#.WHC5jX1thdY">saw the number of</a> international students quadruple from 2005 to 2014, soon after it made the decision to subsidize international doctoral students at the same level as domestic students.</p>
<p>In contrast, nations that have significantly increased their tuition costs for international students have found mixed results. </p>
<p>Denmark, for example, saw attendance from outside the EU <a href="https://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/ie_julaug13_change.pdf">drop by 20 percent in one year</a>, after it introduced tuition fees for international students in 2006. Sweden too saw a massive drop in international students after it introduced fees in 2011-12 – the number of international students <a href="http://monitor.icef.com/2015/12/swedens-international-student-numbers-up-for-the-first-time-since-2011/">plummeted by 80 percent</a>. (Some modest recovery has happened in recent years.) </p>
<h2>Implications for U.S.policy</h2>
<p>The issue in the U.S. is that it already has the largest share of the international student market – <a href="http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/education-at-a-glance-2015_eag-2015-en#.WHanyn2GzLg">approximately 15 percent</a> – and a steady stream of international students looking to study in the U.S. </p>
<p>In fact, state universities often seek to make up resource declines by increasing the number of full-fee paying international students. A recent report from the <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w22981">National Bureau of Economic Research</a> found that a 10 percent reduction in state funding resulted in an 12 percent increase in the number of international undergraduate students at public research universities.</p>
<p>A number of questions therefore arise when considering the implications for the “free college” policies in the U.S.: Could free college policies reverse the trend of more U.S. students studying outside of the U.S. to escape high fees? Could improved state funding in support of making college more financially accessible to domestic students stop colleges from actively seeking international students? Or, could it push these students into the private sector which will likely have more room as students take advantage of free public education?</p>
<p>There are far too many variables still in play to answer any of these questions. But while the push for “free college” in the U.S. may be a sexy political move, we need to think through intended and unintended consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70900/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason E. Lane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What does tuition-free college mean in other parts of the world? And what would it mean for international students?Jason E. Lane, Chair and Professor of Educational Policy and Leadership & Co-Director of the Cross-Border Education Research Team, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/579472016-05-27T02:05:51Z2016-05-27T02:05:51ZIs a tuition-free policy enough to ensure college success?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124215/original/image-20160526-22080-xf9voi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What do the most disadvantaged students need for college success?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=jJPm_yhyTe-uRQMiFq79EQ&searchterm=commencement&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=298297466">Commencement image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the U.S., many soon-to-be high school graduates are excited to begin college. Over the past decades, <a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/education-pays-2013-full-report-022714.pdf">rates of college enrollment have increased</a>. In 1950, only 16 percent of young people had at least some college exposure. By 2012, this figure rose to 63 percent. </p>
<p>Such trends should be seen as a positive but for the fact that too many students who begin college don’t finish. Among a recent cohort of students enrolled in four-year degree programs, <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cva.asp">only three in five</a> completed their bachelor’s degree within six years. </p>
<p>Further, socioeconomic gaps in college completion are large. Among students from high-income backgrounds who recently started college, three-quarters earned a degree. In contrast, <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.asp">under half</a> of low-income students who matriculated earned any kind of postsecondary credential. Of particular concern is the fact that gaps in degree attainment <a href="http://www.russellsage.org/research/chartbook/fraction-students-completing-college-income-quartile-and-birth-year">have widened over time</a>. </p>
<p>To address some of these concerns, Democratic presidential candidates have proposed improving college access and success for the most disadvantaged students including making public colleges and universities <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/feed/how-much-would-hillary-clintons-debt-free-college-plan-save-you-even-if-youve-already-graduated/">debt-free</a> or <a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/its-time-to-make-college-tuition-free-and-debt-free/">tuition-free</a>. </p>
<p>In our own research, we have investigated the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775716301248">many barriers</a> students can face in accessing and succeeding in college. So, what does rigorous evidence tell us about potential solutions? Is a free college tuition policy sufficient for improving college access and success in the U.S.?</p>
<h2>College costs and financial aid</h2>
<p>Public college costs have risen substantially over time and faster than the rate of inflation, as state and local budget allocations <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465044962">have failed to keep pace with rising enrollments</a>. </p>
<p>Over the two-decade period from 1995 to 2015, the average net cost of college attendance, inclusive of room and board, at public four-year institutions <a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/2015-trends-college-pricing-final-508.pdf">has risen from US$8,450 to just over $14,000</a>. For families in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, this implies that sending a child to a public four-year institution would require over <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775716301248">40 percent of the annual household budget</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124214/original/image-20160526-22050-3hx01a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Financial aid helps. But is that enough?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=X4LAzmkh4a-fD6N5LQXdUA&searchterm=college%20debt&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=318232658">Dollar image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Providing financial assistance to low-income students does improve college success. <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w15387.pdf">Studies</a> that have rigorously examined the impact of lowering college costs have indicated benefits. For example, the <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w19306">Florida Student Assistance Grant</a>, which provides low-income students with an additional $1,300 grant on top of Pell Grant funds, increased six-year bachelor’s degree attainment rates from 21 to 26 percent. The <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/685442">Wisconsin Scholars program</a>, which provides a $3,500 annual grant for low-income students to attend a Wisconsin public university, similarly increased on-time graduation for recipients from 16 to 21 percent. </p>
<p>However, at least <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2016/04/21-who-would-benefit-most-from-free-college-chingos">one recent analysis</a> should give policymakers and advocates pause about turning to universal free tuition as a strategy for improving college success. <a href="http://www.urban.org/author/matthew-chingos">Matthew Chingos</a> of the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, found that such a plan could yield disproportionate benefits to higher-income rather than lower-income students and families across the country. </p>
<p>Therefore, while such a policy may improve outcomes for low-income students, it would also be providing a substantial benefit to students who already have a high likelihood of accessing and succeeding in college. </p>
<h2>Understanding challenges to college success</h2>
<p>An important point to recognize from the Florida and Wisconsin studies is that, even among students who received additional grant funds, college completion rates remained low. How, then, can we improve rates of college success, particularly for those students at greatest risk of attrition? </p>
<p>To answer this question, we must understand the nuanced challenges that students can face, beyond issues directly related to college affordability. </p>
<p>Consider the challenges faced by one student, let’s call her Veronika, in starting her college career. We learned about her experience through ongoing research investigating the factors that contribute to college success. A very strong high school student, Veronika was a mother of two when she was admitted to her state’s prestigious public flagship university. </p>
<p>Although thrilled at the prospect of college, Veronika struggled to identify affordable childcare in the vicinity of the university. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to attend school while also caring for her children. She needed financial aid but also additional guidance.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Veronika received this support through a college success program with which she was affiliated. The program not only helped her locate affordable childcare near campus, but also counseled her to petition for an increase of financial aid to cover the cost. Her initial aid package had not considered child care expenses. </p>
<p>Another student, Marcus, transitioned successfully to college but retained responsibility for supporting his family financially. The dual demands of being a full-time student and working to provide for his family became too much. Marcus stumbled academically, was placed on probation, and lost his financial aid.</p>
<p>The same college success organization stepped in to provide just-in-time financial assistance in addition to guiding him to develop a plan that struck a manageable balance between school and work. </p>
<h2>Low-income students need more than free college</h2>
<p>How much of a difference does it make when students are provided more comprehensive support, including personalized counseling, and not just financial aid?</p>
<p>To inform this question, we collaborated with <a href="http://curry.virginia.edu/about/directory/benjamin-l.-castleman">Ben Castleman</a> at the University of Virginia and <a href="http://www.econ.pitt.edu/people/phd-students">Gumilang Sahadewo</a> at the University of Pittsburgh to rigorously examine the <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2726320%22%22">impact of one such progam</a> – <a href="http://www.dellscholars.org/">the Dell Scholars Program. </a></p>
<p>The Dell Scholars program aims to support low-income and first-generation college students by providing a combination of scholarship aid and “…ongoing support and assistance to address all of the emotional, lifestyle, and financial challenges that may prevent scholars from completing college.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124216/original/image-20160526-22086-1sq17pv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students need other support services as well.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=8BCGXdMP8Kv3QlZ3qgYb9g&searchterm=counselling%20students&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=32984956">Girl image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>This support includes prematriculation counseling sessions as well as regular tracking of student progress and follow up, as needed, to guide and support students throughout their post-secondary career. We studied 1,800 Dell Scholars selected from nearly 40,000 applicants over six cohorts and attending hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the U.S.</p>
<p>We found the program led to substantial improvements in bachelor’s degree attainment. For example, for the cohort we could track for a full six years, the program increased bachelor’s degree attainment from 61 to 75 percent. </p>
<h2>Experience from other scholarship programs</h2>
<p>Other studies also point to evidence of college success through comprehensive college supports. </p>
<p>Researchers <a href="https://sanford.duke.edu/people/faculty/clotfelter-charles-t">Charles Clotfelter</a>, <a href="http://hemelt.web.unc.edu/">Steven Hemelt</a> and <a href="https://sanford.duke.edu/people/faculty/ladd-helen-f">Helen Ladd</a> investigated the impact of the <a href="http://carolinacovenant.unc.edu/">Carolina Covenant</a>, which supports students from low-income backgrounds to attend University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. </p>
<p>The program began in 2004 exclusively to provide need-based financial aid. By 2007, however, the program also provided students with additional counseling and support services. </p>
<p>The researchers found that the program improved the four-year degree completion rate for qualifying students by <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2769196">eight percentage points</a> but only for those cohorts who were provided not just financial, but also non-financial support. </p>
<p>Similarly, at the City University of New York, the <a href="http://www1.cuny.edu/sites/asap/">Accelerated Study in Associates Program (ASAP)</a> which works with low-income community college students, provides support that includes financial aid, special classes, additional advising and career services, free public transportation and free use of textbooks.</p>
<p>Researchers <a href="http://www.mdrc.org/about/susan-scrivener">Susan Scrivener</a> and <a href="http://www.mdrc.org/about/michael-j-weiss">Michael Weiss</a> found that the program increased associates degree attainment <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2393088">from 18 percent to 33 percent</a> within 2.5 years of students beginning the program. </p>
<p>Critics may argue that ASAP is too expensive, given that it results in substantially higher per student investment. Researchers <a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/faculty/hl361/">Henry Levin</a> and <a href="http://www.epi.org/people/emma-garcia/">Emma Garcia</a> have shown, however, that because the program so effectively improved degree attainment, <a href="http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Levin-ASAP-Cost-Effectiveness-Report_092412_FINAL-5.pdf">it led to lower costs on a per-graduate basis</a>. </p>
<p>Taken together, this work points to looking beyond blanket solutions such as free college tuition for all. Many students, and particularly those from low-income backgrounds, face challenges that go beyond simply meeting tuition. </p>
<p>Awarding such students with packages that include financial aid bundled with counseling and other support is likely to yield more success in improving overall degree attainment rates. In contrast, universal free tuition would invest fewer resources where they are needed and more where they are not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Page received research funding from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to support the evaluation of the Dell Scholars program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacy S. Kehoe received research funding from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to support the evaluation of the Dell Scholars program.</span></em></p>Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have called for making colleges and universities debt-free or tuition-free. Disadvantaged students need more than free college to achieve success.Lindsay Page, Assistant Professor of Research Methodology, University of PittsburghStacy S. Kehoe, PhD Student, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/570852016-04-22T16:30:39Z2016-04-22T16:30:39ZCollege is worth it. Who should pay for it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119695/original/image-20160421-30266-13ty7n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should college be free?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=college%20debt&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=13653856">Diploma with money image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Presidential candidates from both parties <a href="https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/5223/2016_Presidential_Candidates_Scattered_on_Higher_Ed_Student_Aid_Views">have advanced proposals</a> about how higher education should be funded. Democratic presidential candidates have called for debt-free or tuition-free college. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both have plans for reducing tuition through increased public spending. </p>
<p>The way higher education is funded has become a topic of public interest. Data compiled by the annual report of College Board, <a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-college-pricing-web-final-508-2.pdf">“Trends in College Pricing,”</a> show why.</p>
<p>Between 2005 and 2015, middle-income families saw their wages decline by two percent, while average in-state net tuition and fees (the amount students actually pay) rose by 73 percent at public four-year colleges.</p>
<p><a href="http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/trends-college-pricing-web-final-508-2.pdf">Research</a> also shows that declines in state support have been the most important factor driving up tuition at public colleges. </p>
<p>According to “Trends in College Pricing,” states spent US$9.74 on higher education per $1,000 in personal income in 1990. But by 2015, this figure dropped to just $5.55. As a result, the burden of covering the cost of college has shifted from taxpayers to individual students.</p>
<p>So, who should pay for college?</p>
<p>My experience as a higher education researcher tells me that the way this question is answered depends on who you think benefits. If you think individuals capture most of the benefits of higher education, then it is reasonable to ask individuals to pay the costs. On the other hand, if you think society shares in the benefits of college, then you might favor public support for higher education.</p>
<h2>Why college is worth it</h2>
<p>Today most people believe that going to college is important because it is the pathway to securing a good job and higher personal income. <a href="http://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2015.pdf">Results from a study</a> conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA show that 70 percent of college freshman believe earning a college degree is “very important” in order “to be able to make more money.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119699/original/image-20160421-30266-4eholj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">College graduates get better jobs and earn more money.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/saadandalib/8536426163/in/photolist-e1kq6r-84HBVu-84Frt3-9MJS6h-oDwsG-ggKZnx-8a7nEd-oDuiq-oDuHp-oDtt3-oDvUm-73asyt-83G4iM-8BXvhH-8C1BbG-9TCUHc-9TCTvV-vhwWor-6oG5Xr-6oG3RT-99yw5b-9EUmG4-4Mhe2k-4PSfUj-9TFJmj-9TFHN7-4PN2Hk-9SKZPo-va6P6u-aFeWL-w8CKbq-v1iqdM-vURomY-6HHmJh-oDtjf-oDup2-oDvAx-6N1LUA-oDvGu-oDvwa-oDwFp-oDucz-oDuva-oDvNo-oDu5F-oDuBn-oDtV8-oDw7G-CXFNZz-5xtqBz">Md saad andalib</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This view is supported by <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2011/collegepayoff.pdf">analysis</a> by the Georgetown University on Education and the Workforce. Indeed, individuals with a college degree can expect an additional $2.5 million in earnings over a lifetime. </p>
<p>Understanding college as a pathway to personal gain is consistent with the idea of higher education as a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-005-8230-y">“private good”</a> and <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/From-Public-Good-to-Private/14506">helps to explain</a> why state legislatures no longer fund higher education as generously as in the past.</p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2690479">recent study</a> published in the Journal of Educational Finance by the economist <a href="http://www.economics.illinois.edu/people/wmcmahon/">Walter W. McMahon</a> suggests there may be larger than expected public benefits from higher education. </p>
<p>McMahon finds: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The effects of higher education are not just on better paying jobs but are also on many outcomes beyond earnings from better healthcare and child development to political stability and lower criminal justice costs.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Results of McMahon’s analysis show public investment in higher education can improve states’ bottom line by boosting tax receipts and reducing welfare and law enforcement expenditures. Given these findings, he argues that state legislators should understand higher education as a “public good” worthy of taxpayer support.</p>
<h2>Return on investment</h2>
<p>McMahon’s argument is based on his analysis of data from Illinois. He finds that Illinois sees a return of 15.3 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively, on its investments in community colleges and public universities. </p>
<p>Individuals with a college education earn higher salaries. They are <a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/higher-learning-greater-good">also healthier</a> and less likely to claim welfare benefits and to commit crimes. Because these benefits increase tax revenue and lower public expenditures, public higher education spending can be a long-term boon to states budgets.</p>
<p>So, should states should invest more in higher education?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119701/original/image-20160421-27004-1erzamt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who benefits from an educated workforce?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ubclibrary/2702161578/in/photolist-57MhuJ-aJBhna-demcdY-bmA8Ng-gikQoj-9bN2yw-ewtr7k-p1H4am-rmDJUq-nEMPt6-62vUcG-9a6M8-62vUmS-jrEHPA-hGauUT-5XiA29-5jArfe-9JaHs5-2X64cT-qL2wPW-nELLhN-biT9R2-oXckfN-82h9kL-pbp4p-mCw7mg-8ivmWv-gmoSai-mXwrKw-pxRcG9-59EfUw-GXG43-aFt7P-ehthHE-dne8UZ-ejpD2D-fkjwiZ-5HtoBg-HKMTa-3LVL-37j3GC-9K1XDo-a3XJay-gsvsBM-88SsHQ-e7PSid-73tCHC-6jeZei-8GjD9z-66zhyL">UBC Library Communications Follow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One way to evaluate the sufficiency of public investment in higher education is to consider how the United States stacks up internationally. </p>
<p>Data compiled by the <a href="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/9615031e.pdf?expires=1459298085&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=C967EAFD243AE405A3C14BCB43F2D04E">Organisation for Cooperation and Development (OECD)</a>, a policy think thank representing highly industrialized countries, show that families in the U.S. support a hefty share of higher education costs while the public enjoys a substantial return on their investment.</p>
<p>Sixty-two percent of the costs for higher education in the U.S. are paid by private sources. This figure is well above the OECD average of 28 percent. For men in the U.S., the public return on investment in a college degree is 14.5 percent, and for women it is 9.2 percent. Both figures are above the OECD average of 10.6 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.</p>
<p>As a researcher in the field of higher education, I believe American states are investing public higher education at levels below what is justified by the benefits. Increased investment in public higher education would likely slow the rate of growth in tuition prices and may over time also buoy lagging state budgets.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article was part of our collaboration with <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/point-taken/">Point Taken</a>, a new program from WGBH that <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/point-taken/is-college-worth-price-tag/">debated the issue</a>. The show features fact-based discussion on major issues of the day, without the shouting.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Cantwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>College education results in not just better earnings, but better health care and child development as well as political stability and lower criminal justice costs. Should states invest more?Brendan Cantwell, Associate Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/563262016-03-23T10:08:12Z2016-03-23T10:08:12ZThe history of student loans goes back to the Middle Ages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115834/original/image-20160321-30929-1usscp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A early chest, belonging to Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of The Bodleian Library at Oxford Unviersity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/21804434@N02/5937432201">mira66</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1473, Alexander Hardynge, who had finished his bachelor’s degree at Oxford nearly two years previous, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Biographical_Register_of_the_Universit.html?id=8DkkAAAAMAAJ">borrowed money through an educational loan service</a>. The loan came with a one year repayment deadline.</p>
<p>With some of that money, he rented a room at Exeter College and offered tutoring services to college students. He soon repaid that loan. In 1475, Hardynge took out a second loan – again, in part to rent teaching space. </p>
<p>Then, in 1478, he was appointed as a subdeacon, a post two orders lower than a priest, likely in Durham, a city in the north of England. From all evidence, it seems that he promptly packed his robes and abandoned his teaching gig. There is also nothing to suggest that he gave a single penny to his lenders. </p>
<p>For students today, Hardynge’s story would be too good to be true. Not only did he get his bachelor’s degree without incurring debt, but also, he did not have to repay the money he borrowed. </p>
<p>Prompted by my own anxiety about educational debt, an anxiety that intensified several years ago with the birth of my own prospective college students, I have been researching the long history of educational loans in order to get a better context for the current student debt crisis.</p>
<p>With student loan <a href="http://educationbythenumbers.org/wp-content/uploads/Student-Loan-Debt-Time-Series.jpg">growth rates</a> spiraling out of control, it behooves us to think through the ways other time periods and cultures have monetized, funded or <em>not</em> funded student labor.</p>
<h2>Loan chests, books as collateral</h2>
<p>The history of student loans starts with the establishment of institutions of higher learning in medieval Europe from the late 11th century.</p>
<p>The University of Bologna, considered the first official university, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/US/academic/subjects/history/european-history-1000-1450/history-university-europe-volume-1">was quickly followed</a> by the University of Paris, Oxford University and Cambridge University. All of these places offered degrees to young men, training them for positions in the Catholic Church and, later, in government. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115833/original/image-20160321-30921-1593s38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sir Thomas Bodley’s chest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ndw/915249333/in/photolist-s6qztf-7h7g9p-n8fX8k-6iuJK3-ietpvH-q2UJeg-ifXqaC-bHWQbe-q2NCWf-6kZGZT-q2NjEf-8jZNvv-6iqAKn-pnmMsC-8zx7ut-6HBBFV-E2Yec-8zx8dV-A5FGZ-8a7w93-8zAiQJ-8K5zV2-8zx8UH-ifAbW6-7SUpWf-8zAikj-8K5znK-7P6frk-2oSTJV-dnt4px-8zx4mF-bHWSmF-5jXGhe-8K5zPz-4pdh6o-dnt4mR-3iNoaF-dnt4sp-8K8BU1-aVyJ1B-8K8BUQ-aT7Vj8-aT7Vbn-aT7V4F-mZXRmY-8d4DE1-BMZRFp-BCpExG">Norman Walsh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first, scholars who needed money did not differ from other borrowers: everyone took loans from the same lenders. But in 1240, <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grosseteste/">Robert Grosseteste, the bishop of Lincoln</a>, used Oxford University money to launch the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=st+frideswide%27+chest&source=bl&ots=QQEsr8YR14&sig=Loh2SzLEpeD-9mIgTVW0c4riobo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3tZesvMXLAhWqyIMKHbnPAUYQ6AEILzAD#v=onepage&q=st%20frideswide'%20chest&f=false">first documented student loan system</a>. He named it St. Frideswide’s Chest. </p>
<p>St. Frideswide’s Chest was literally a chest. Bound by two different locks, with each key held by a different college magister, or faculty member, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false">it resided at St. Frideswide’s Priory</a>, a religious house in central Oxford, amid the city’s colleges, academic halls and student apartments. </p>
<p>To get a loan from St. Frideswide’s, a borrower had to be a scholar of modest means – and likely took an oath for proving so. He also had to have something of value to deposit in the chest as collateral. From the pledge notes I’ve seen in roughly 100 manuscripts and descriptions of manuscripts, it’s clear that scholars hocked everything from silver spoons to gold plates. </p>
<p>But the most commonly collateralized items were books. Not fancy, illuminated books. Just textbooks. In the late Middle Ages, this included works by Aristotle, the Bible, law codes and medical tracts. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/balliolarchivist/8448286566/in/album-72157632695518524/">Here’s a link to a manuscript</a> at Balliol College that was used as collateral. The lines on the final page record two loans taken out by a scholar, Thomas Chace, in 1423 and 1424. The Merton College manuscript (pictured) contains eight pledge notes from the same century.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116046/original/image-20160322-32323-6v1c4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Merton MS 32, fol. 137v taken by Jenny Adams with permission of the Warden and Fellows of Merton College Oxford.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Warden and Fellows of Merton College Oxford.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These were not textbooks as we know them today. They were manuscripts made from animal skin and completed through hours of scribal labor. They fetched large sums. As in modern times, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PAVZAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=the+provision+of+books">medieval textbooks too derived part of their value</a> through the educational market. </p>
<p>Today, for example, the <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Encyclopedia_of_international_media_and.html?id=pPgKAQAAMAAJ"><em>Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications</em></a> (US$305 secondhand) commands a high price because faculty use it to teach and students use it to research in one of the fastest-growing majors. Back then, it was <a href="http://hviewer.bl.uk/IamsHViewer/Default.aspx?mdark=ark:/81055/vdc_100000000042.0x000109">Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences</em></a>, a staple of the Oxford curriculum and also the book Hardynge used for collateral. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115896/original/image-20160321-30921-q21mcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1094&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leaf from Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences.</em></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/58558794@N07/9082818327/in/photolist-eQBQoc-eQBPrZ">POP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sadly, the pledge note in Hardynge’s text, as recorded in the British Library’s on-line description of its manuscripts, does not include the loan amount. But on another leaf of the manuscript one can see a scrawled “precii xl.s.” or “price 40 shillings.” </p>
<p>Hardynge almost surely did not get a loan of this amount. As noted by other scholars who have written extensively on medieval loans and debt collection, the <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737280">value of the collateral far outweighed</a> the actual amount of the loan. But given that a student in the early 15th century could <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=PAVZAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=careers+of+scholars">pay for an entire series of lectures for six shillings</a>, even a loan of 20 shillings, or half the book’s value, would have represented a hefty sum. </p>
<h2>Loans for scholars</h2>
<p>This system might sound like a pawn shop crossed with a secondhand book store. But the use of collateral meant scholars did not always feel the need to repay their loans. Once employed, they could walk away from their debts, just as Hardynge did. If that happened, the chest manager would then put the collateral back into the market. For many borrowers like Hardynge, who had finished his education, buying back his book was simply not worth it. Now employed, he had little need for his copy of Peter Lombard’s <em>Sentences</em>. </p>
<p>By the end of the 14th century, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false">roughly 20 more loan chests had appeared</a> in Oxford. The chests had also moved in 1320 from St. Frideswide’s Priory to the university’s congregation house, and they held the equivalent of millions of today’s dollars. Most often the money came from wealthy patrons who either wanted to support scholars or liked the thought of having their name associated with a chest.</p>
<p>This later impulse seems to have been the case with some of the later chests, which were funded by professionals rather than the nobility. Thus, while King Edward I’s consort, Queen Eleanor of Castile, founded a chest in 1293, the Guildford Chest (1314) and the Robury Chest (1321)<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=endowment%20universities&f=false"> were founded, respectively,</a> by a judge and an attorney-turned-judge. </p>
<p>These later chests opened borrowing to all scholars, not just poor students. In short, the chests now targeted the Alexander Hardynges of Oxford. Hardynge was not poor. He probably funded his education through parental handouts and part-time work, or received on support from a wealthy patron. But clearly by several years after his graduation, he needed money to stay afloat. </p>
<h2>Printing press changes the system</h2>
<p>For 300 years, the loan chest system thrived. Then, one evening in early March of 1544, two men – Robert Raunce and John Stanshaw – armed with an “iron bar and hammer,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TGGCrgEACAAJ&dq=The+Register+of+Congregation,+1448-1463++University+of+Oxford&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAgvWx_9HLAhUCDT4KHfFwAoYQ6AEIHDAA">broke into the congregation house</a> and smashed all of the loan chests. Although Raunce and Stanshaw were eventually tried and sentenced, their burglary still managed to wipe out much of the chests’ wealth. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115848/original/image-20160321-30935-2agsp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The arrival of the printing press changed the value of a book.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/172495285/in/photolist-gf5QD-a4NSNT-9FouSy-bXa8uS-dpHzex-kuXPS6-4M3Rft-a31HYv-aigYFd-eDxQL6-fdaMBP-47TLJP-dTrnwK-cVuNxh-do5vAx-fKdEge-dsuGRq-dfT8Xx-unttkF-jQijKd-49Kjo7-81JzpW-dmCBA5-47TM6c-iD74WS-mjZZUa-9edpnc-ksdAbM-9egoDj-dKtBR5-fJVcs1-9VPpRB-9egu3U-eh2w4s-9egkn1-ee5N2Q-9edioz-Ks3zR-aFtm4e-acSfCn-jtezvG-cYJ5BW-aey4N8-dWFqTq-e4XwrL-dmCbxp-deExRT-eokxpq-a8Eb9P-7KpoZ2">Thomas Hawk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet even before this, the loan system had started to decline. Although the arrival of the printing press in the late 15th century didn’t have an immediate effect on manuscript production, <a href="http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/william-caxton-and-canterbury-tales">it would eventually make books cheap and thus no longer worth collateralizing</a>. Even in the chests’ final century of use, the use of gold plate and jewelry was increasing and by <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TGGCrgEACAAJ&dq=The+Register+of+Congregation,+1448-1463++University+of+Oxford&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiAgvWx_9HLAhUCDT4KHfFwAoYQ6AEIHDAA">1500 had surpassed the use of books</a>. </p>
<p>Around the same time, bankers began to make loans on the premise of future returns rather than in exchange for real property. The shift toward anticipated future earnings soon came with the England’s 1624 legalization of interest-bearing loans, <a href="https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/index.php/index/research/workingPaperDetails/439">which pushed even more people into this model of lending</a>. </p>
<p>With their loan chests gone, students again became just like other borrowers. And just like other borrowers, they, too, could end up the <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-gaol-the-story-of-newgate-londons-most-notorious-prison/">notorious debtors’ prisons</a> that began to swell with inmates as early as the 17th century. </p>
<h2>Modern-day loans</h2>
<p>Student loans arrived in the United States <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2011/06/13/deduct-this-the-history-of-the-student-loan-interest/#9989a2037518">in the mid-19th century</a>. Like the medieval loan chests at Oxford, these loans started through a singular university, in this case Harvard, which administered them. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115841/original/image-20160321-30912-ymxj4h.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UMass students protest against student loans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jenny Adams</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This localized system changed in the mid-20th century with the creation by the Department of Education in 1965 of <a href="http://atlas.newamerica.org/federal-student-loan-programs-history">federally guaranteed student loans</a> made by private lenders and available to students across the country.</p>
<p>Students were once again put into a special category. But in this case, this meant they could now collateralize their estimated future incomes (without even knowing what those incomes might be) in order to obtain a degree.</p>
<p>For a long time and for many students (this writer included), this model of credit worked. Loans opened up college to many people, allowing them to pursue a career path otherwise unavailable. But now that we’ve entered the age of six-figure student loans, this freedom seems more like a virtual debtors’ prison than a chance to economic mobility. </p>
<p>I would never advocate a return to the Middle Ages. Yet as we consider the current morass of educational debt, we need to think harder about historical precedent. </p>
<p>True, medieval universities excluded many groups – religious minorities, feudal villeins (a commoner legally tied to a feudal lord in the Middle Ages) and women were barred from entry. Yet poor young men with talent had a chance. Fees were not high. Patrons helped out. And if one needed money, one might be able to pledge a book – not a future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Adams has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. </span></em></p>When the first universities opened in Europe, some 800 years ago, students literally borrowed from a chest and used their books as collateral.Jenny Adams, Associate Professor of English, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.