tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/college-cost-20841/articlesCollege cost – The Conversation2024-02-19T13:36:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235312024-02-19T13:36:32Z2024-02-19T13:36:32ZFAFSA website meltdown: How to avoid additional frustration with financial aid applications<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576239/original/file-20240216-16-d8twal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5455%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some colleges are extending the traditional May 1 deadline for students to accept offers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-with-digital-tablet-having-problems-royalty-free-image/832996896?phrase=paying+for+college+stressed+out&adppopup=true">valentinrussanov via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Congress passed the <a href="https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/fafsa-simplification-act">FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020</a>, it was touted as making it easier for more families to access the government funding they need to send their children to college. But as recent events have shown, it actually <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/frustration-all-around-the-fafsas-rocky-rollout">made things more complicated, frustrating and confusing</a>.</p>
<p>While the new federal student aid form – known as the FAFSA – is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/fafsa-changes-what-you-need-to-know/#:%7E:text=The%20new%20FAFSA%20application%20requires,one%20has%20less%20than%2050.">much shorter and requires less manual entry</a> of tax information, there were glitches and delays in rolling it out, as with many new websites.</p>
<p>Initially, families could access the FAFSA only for a limited time during a “<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/traditional-age/2024/01/03/fafsa-soft-launch-vexes-families-and-counselors">soft launch” period in December</a>.</p>
<p>Now the form is accessible to families for them to complete, but the data is not flowing out to schools and colleges. Applicants are also discovering another problem. Often, students and parents may need to consult other documents or each other as part of the application process, so they will pause their application to complete it later. However, after initially logging into the FAFSA website, many students and parents experienced difficulty when returning to finalize their submission. The simplified FAFSA application has been online since the end of December, but users are still <a href="https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/topics/fafsa-simplification-information/2024-25-fafsa-issue-alerts">experiencing some problems</a>.</p>
<p>The Department of Education’s student aid calculations have also been delayed as it incorporates a <a href="https://financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/tk/announcement-detail.jsp?id=fafsa-changes-student-aid-index">new formula</a> intended to expand eligibility for financial aid. The department also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/01/fafsa-income-allowance-protection-calculation-error/">made an error</a> in the formula when adjusting for inflation. The calculations used for the determination of aid eligibility had been based on outdated consumer price index rules from 2020 but have since been corrected. All of this has delayed sending aid calculations to schools. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://drexel.edu/news/archive/2023/November/Dawn-Medley-to-join-Drexel-as-SVP-for-Enrollment-Management">longtime college administrator</a> who has developed programs to improve access to higher education, I see this situation as a well-intentioned but poorly executed effort. Ultimately, I believe the changes to FAFSA will help more students realize their dream of earning a degree, but this year I’m afraid it may cause many to abandon it.</p>
<p>To better understand the situation and what might come next, it helps to know how the government and schools work together to provide financial aid.</p>
<h2>Measuring ability to pay</h2>
<p>The Department of Education <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/1150">created the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in 1992</a> to determine how much the federal government believes a family can contribute for a child’s college education. To be eligible for <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell">Pell Grants</a>, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/work-study">federal work-study</a> or even <a href="https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/how-to-apply-for-federal-student-loan">student loans</a>, students and families must complete the FAFSA. </p>
<p>Submitting the FAFSA prompts the Department of Education to set the amount it will offer in loans and other federal funding. The department then sends that information to the schools to which a student has applied. From there, the schools determine what additional financial aid they can provide. The schools make a final offer of financial assistance, called an award notice or award letter, to prospective students. Typically, this process takes a couple of months, and students <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/financial-aid-award-letter/">can expect to receive their award letter</a> from schools by the end of March, depending on when they filled out the FAFSA.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">What happens after submitting your FAFSA form?</span></figcaption>
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<p>On Feb. 13, 2024, the Department of Education announced <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/amid-fafsa-delays-education-dept-will-reduce-verification-requirements-for-aid-applicants">a temporary fix</a> intended to shorten the department’s application review process, which would enable schools to make their offers sooner.</p>
<h2>Extensions granted</h2>
<p>In the meantime, some institutions have taken steps to alleviate stress and provide more clarity to applicants. Many schools have chosen to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/02/14/dc-colleges-extend-admissions-deadline-fafsa-delay/">extend students’ time</a> to accept their offer, moving from the traditional deadline of May 1, which is known as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/education/student-resources/college-decision-day/#:%7E:text=Each%20year%2C%20National%20Decision%20Day,might%20enforce%20different%20decision%20deadlines.">National Decision Day</a>, to May 15 or even June 1. </p>
<p>Some have created their own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/business/fafsa-delays-financial-aid.html">mini FAFSA application</a> to shortcut the aid application process; others are using their own aid calculators. Drexel University, where I oversee financial aid, has decided to forgo the FAFSA process and make a final offer based on another profile on a platform called <a href="https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/">College Scholarship Service</a> that applicants complete.</p>
<p>None of these solutions is perfect. My peers and I are concerned that the frustration and confusion will lead students, <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/fafsa-delays-raise-concerns-some-students-will-miss-out-on-college-aid/">particularly those who are the first in their families</a> to go to college, to walk away from higher education altogether.</p>
<p>Students and families should now expect schools to communicate regularly, provide clear and concise information, and encourage students to fill out both a College Scholarship Service profile and a FAFSA if they haven’t already. The financial aid process is complicated, but it’s the responsibility of schools to distill it into a set of simple steps for their applicants.</p>
<h2>Practical tips</h2>
<p>Here are a few tips for students and their families going though this process right now:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Families should communicate with schools to see whether they are able to receive official offers based on net price calculators, College Scholarship Service profiles or school-created solutions. Students can do this via the schools’ websites, texting, email or even phoning. </p></li>
<li><p>If families do not have a guaranteed award from a school, they should ask for a deposit deadline extension so they have the full information they need to make a decision.</p></li>
<li><p>Institutions want to assist and support students through this period of uncertainty, so don’t be afraid to ask questions and stay in touch with the experts who have the most updated information.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dawn Medley 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>A college administrator offers insights into the rocky rollout of the Department of Education’s supposedly ‘simplified’ financial aid form.Dawn Medley, Senior Vice President of Enrollment Management, Drexel UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1812322022-04-28T12:20:33Z2022-04-28T12:20:33ZDespite $400 boost, Pell Grants fall far short of original goal to make college more affordable for low- and middle-income students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459608/original/file-20220425-2721-y690dm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5081%2C3390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Pell Grant covers less than 30 percent of the costs to attend a four-year public college. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/graduate-waives-during-the-53rd-commencements-of-the-news-photo/1234897146">Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Back around when the Pell Grant was <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45418#:%7E:text=The%20federal%20Pell%20Grant%20program,have%20been%20awarded%20since%201973.">created by Congress in 1973</a> to help students from low-income families pay for higher education, it <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45418#:%7E:text=The%20federal%20Pell%20Grant%20program,have%20been%20awarded%20since%201973.">covered 80% of the costs</a> of attending a public four-year college or university. And it covered over 40% of the costs of going to a private one.</p>
<p>Today, thanks to <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76">increases in tuition costs</a> and Pell Grants not keeping pace, they cover less than 30% of the costs at a public university and less than 20% of the costs at private institutions, according an analysis I conducted using College Board data. </p>
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<p>With that history in mind, President Joe Biden’s budget, which <a href="https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Biden-Signs-Major-Spending-Bill.aspx">increases the maximum Pell Grant by $400</a> – from $6,495 to $6,895 – for the 2022-2023 school year, should boost the purchasing power of the grant. But it still falls short of restoring that purchasing power to where it was when the Pell Grant was created nearly 50 years ago, a goal for which many in higher education have advocated.</p>
<p>I make this observation as a veteran university administrator and as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ljqkyw4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researcher</a> who has spent the last 25 years studying what factors enable students to enroll in college and get a degree. </p>
<h2>Pell Grants yesterday and today</h2>
<p>Over $26 million in <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid">Pell Grants</a> were awarded to approximately 6.2 million students in the 2020-2021 school year, with the average recipient receiving just over $4,200. </p>
<p>The grants, originally called <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/data/pell-historical/beog-eoy-1973-74.pdf">Basic Educational Opportunity Grants</a>, were <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/topics/higher-education-funding-and-financial-aid/federal-student-aid/federal-pell-grants/#:%7E:text=Congress%20established%20the%20Basic%20Educational,Pell%20(D%2DRI).">renamed in 1980</a> after the late U.S. Senator <a href="https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/P000193">Claiborne Pell</a>, a Democrat from Rhode Island and an early champion of the grant.</p>
<p>In line with the goals of the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-765/pdf/COMPS-765.pdf">Higher Education Act</a>, which was originally passed in 1965, the grants were designed to be the foundation of college funding for students from poor- and moderate-income families. They were also meant to be a mechanism to help eliminate the gap in the rates at which these students attend college and graduate in relation to their peers from wealthier families.</p>
<p>The idea was that with a Pell Grant, a student could afford to pay the major components of the cost of attendance at a public four-year institution without having to borrow a lot of money or work a lot of hours at a job, particularly off campus.</p>
<p>For students at private colleges, Pell Grants would cover a substantial amount of their education costs, too, but not to the same extent as public colleges, which typically cost less to attend.</p>
<h2>Losing purchasing power</h2>
<p>As tuition prices have increased, the size of Pell Grants – which are subject to approval from Congress – has not kept pace, causing their purchasing power to decline.</p>
<p>This erosion of the value of a Pell Grant has affected college access in a number of ways. Poorer students have become <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/rising-student-debt-harming-us-economy?gclid=Cj0KCQjw06OTBhC_ARIsAAU1yOUU0cMFbIWA0_EZS1C4Zgf4iUWrSKgoHL6lBT2x60AZlI9Q6lL-wDUaArU0EALw_wcB">more reliant on loans</a> to finance their education, as Pell covers less of the costs. </p>
<p>These poorer students are also more likely to be <a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021_HSBenchmarksCovidReport.pdf">enrolled in a community college</a> because of the lower prices in two-year colleges. The post-graduation job prospects of a student with a community college degree are <a href="https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/labor-market-returns-sub-baccalaureate-college-review.pdf">not as good</a> as they are for one who graduates with a bachelor’s degree, studies have shown.
And the labor market returns to a community college degree are <a href="https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/labor-market-returns-sub-baccalaureate-college-review.pdf">lower</a> than those of bachelor’s degrees.</p>
<p>Pell Grants have helped close the college access gap. While low-income students <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_302.30.asp">almost doubled the rate</a> at which they enrolled in college after graduating from high school – from 35% in 1975 to 67% in 2016 – high-income students also increased their college-going rate.</p>
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<p>While the poorest students have achieved parity with their middle-income peers, both groups still lag behind the college attendance rates of students from wealthier families. So while Pell Grants have helped close some of the gap, students from higher-income families still attend college at a rate <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_302.30.asp">16 percentage points</a> more than poor students. </p>
<h2>Increasing the Pell Grant’s power</h2>
<p>The $400 increase in the Pell Grant maximum is the largest since the <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid">$619 increase in 2009</a>. However, with the price of college continuing to grow, this increase will bring the purchasing power of Pell to just over <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/college-pricing">30%</a> of the cost of attending college. This is a small step in the right direction, but not nearly enough to help students from moderate-income families.</p>
<p>Many higher education organizations, including the <a href="https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Statement-Call-to-Congress-Double-Pell.aspx">American Council on Education</a>, the <a href="https://www.nasfaa.org/double_pell#:%7E:text=NASFAA%20Advocacy&text=NASFAA%20in%20June%202021%2C%20published,struggling%20to%20meet%20college%20cost">National Association of Student Financial Aid Administators</a> and the <a href="https://www.naicu.edu/issues-advocacy/doublepell/making-the-case">National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities</a>, have called for doubling the Pell Grant. This would be an important step toward having Pell Grants cover as much for today’s students as they did a generation or two ago.</p>
<p><a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends">Data from The College Board</a> demonstrates that a $13,000 Pell Grant – roughly double this year’s maximum of $6,495 – would provide 57% of the college costs at a public institution. However, this is still well below what it covered in the 1970s. Without increased support, poorer students will continue to lag their wealthier peers in achieving the American dream of a college education.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donald E. Heller has received funding for his research in the past from governmental and non-governmental organizations. None of that funding has influenced this article.</span></em></p>The Pell Grant would have to be doubled in order for its purchasing power to be anywhere near what it used to be, a scholar observes.Donald E. Heller, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1729392021-12-17T13:27:50Z2021-12-17T13:27:50ZTaking out a student loan for your child can hurt your own financial well-being<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436284/original/file-20211208-159504-1mc3k0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5751%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents who borrow for their children's college education say finances control their lives.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/senior-man-and-adult-daughter-working-on-home-royalty-free-image/926397676?adppopup=true">kali9/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When people take out student loans for themselves, certain risks are involved. The debt can <a href="https://theconversation.com/student-loan-debt-is-crushing-americans-4-essential-reads-166338">negatively affect</a> a person’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.027">mental</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-489">emotional</a> and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.027">physical well-being</a>. It can also harm a person’s <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/financial-well-being-scale/">financial well-being</a>.</p>
<p>But when taking out a student loan for one’s child, the risk is even higher that the loan could be associated with lower financial well-being.</p>
<p>This is what economics scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=NI6MYXsAAAAJ">Charlene Kalenkoski</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=2WdRXvAAAAAJ">I</a> found <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1894/2021._Korankye___Kalenkoski._Student-Loan_Debt_and_Financial_WB.pdf?1639154013">in our peer-reviewed study</a> published in the <a href="https://www.iarfc.org/publications/journal-of-personal-finance">Journal of Personal Finance</a>. The study – which used a nationally representative <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed.htm">federal dataset on household economics and decision-making</a> – involved nearly 12,500 American adults ages 18 and over, with an average age of 48. It is not known whether the parents had taken out private or <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/plus/parent">government loans</a> for their children.</p>
<p>By lower <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/financial-well-being-scale/">financial well-being</a>, we mean that these parents were more likely to report feeling as if they will never be able to have the things they want in life or that they are “just getting by financially.” They also report feeling a lack of control over their financial situation. These statements are part of what the <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/financial-well-being-scale/">U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a> uses to measure financial well-being. Lower financial well-being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx109">decreases overall well-being</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings remained consistent even after we took into account several other factors, such as the education levels of the parents, whether or not they work, how much they earn per year and how they spend their money. We also considered their financial literacy and their current financial strain.</p>
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<p>The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/financial-well-being/">offers people a financial well-being score</a> on a <a href="https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201512_cfpb_financial-well-being-user-guide-scale.pdf">scale of 0 to 100</a>. Taking out a student loan is associated with a lower financial well-being score for everyone, but our research found that it is associated with an even lower score when the loan is for the borrower’s child. For instance, taking out a loan for oneself is likely to lower the score by 1.44 points, and taking out a student loan for one’s spouse likely lowers the score by 1.37 points. However, taking out a student loan for one’s child was likely to lower financial well-being scores by 1.88 points. </p>
<h2>Most students rely on loans</h2>
<p>In public policy discussions about people who take out student loans, it’s not always clear whether the loan is for themselves or someone else, such as the borrower’s spouse or child. Knowing this information provides insight into how student loan debt relates to the borrower’s well-being if the loan is for their children.</p>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/see-how-student-loan-borrowing-has-risen-in-10-years">64% of of college graduates</a> financed their education via student loans – accumulating an average debt of US$29,927.</p>
<p>The combined amount of federal and private student loans – as well as the number of borrowers – continues to increase. The total amount of student loan debt reached <a href="https://educationdata.org/total-student-loan-debt">$1.75 trillion</a> as of Nov. 30, 2021, and the total number of borrowers stood at 47.9 million.</p>
<h2>Negative effects on households</h2>
<p>These student loan debts have adverse effects on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.26.1.165">individuals, households and the U.S. economy</a>. Consequently, the federal government is considering <a href="https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/whats-the-current-state-of-student-loan-forgiveness">federal student loan forgiveness</a>. In a December 2021 letter, several Democratic lawmakers <a href="https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/12.08.21.Letter%20to%20Biden%20re%20payment%20pause%20final%20signed%20(1)1.pdf">urged President Biden to extend the pause on student loan payments – which ends in January – and to act to cancel student debt</a>.</p>
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<p>The lawmakers call attention to “significant disparities” that contribute to the racial wealth gap. “Twenty years after starting college, the median Black borrower still owes 95% of their loans, compared to only 6% for the median white borrower,” the lawmakers note, citing a <a href="https://heller.brandeis.edu/iere/pdfs/racial-wealth-equity/racial-wealth-gap/stallingdreams-how-student-debt-is-disrupting-lifechances.pdf">2019 Brandeis University study</a>.</p>
<p>Studies have shown that student loan debt influences household decisions and outcomes. This includes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12374">delayed homeownership</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2020.1757026">lower likelihood of stock ownership</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-021-09753-9">lower probability of life satisfaction</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12263">lower financial wellness</a> compared with those without student loan debt. </p>
<p>Our study used a dataset for 2017. The long-term effects on parents’ financial well-being after taking out loans for their children’s college education are not known. Having datasets for longer periods of time would enable us to examine whether the loans cause lower financial well-being at different stages in parents’ lives, such as when their children finally move out or when the parents retire.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Korankye 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>Student loan debt can hurt borrowers, but the pain is even greater when the borrower is taking out a student loan for their child, new research shows.Thomas Korankye, Assistant Professor, Personal and Family Financial Planning, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1700842021-10-27T12:19:23Z2021-10-27T12:19:23ZCollege cost calculators aren’t precise, but they could easily be made better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428340/original/file-20211025-27-1lhhjxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4920%2C3570&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">College expenses determined by net price calculators can vary by an average of $5,700.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-mother-and-daughter-using-laptop-royalty-free-image/476803847?adppopup=true">Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The best way to figure out how much you have to pay for college is not to go by the sticker price. Instead, it’s to go by a college’s net price, which is often much lower. That’s because the net price tells you how much you have to pay to attend a particular school after you get your financial aid.</p>
<p>So why would anyone go by the sticker price when they could go by the more accurate net price? The main reason is that the net price is often unknown until after you get a college offer letter. These offer letters spell out how much financial aid you can expect.</p>
<p>One way to speed up how fast you can calculate the net price for a school is to use an online tool called a <a href="https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price">net price calculator</a>. As its name suggests, a net price calculator is meant to give you a better sense of the actual price you have to pay to go to a particular college. The net price calculator does this by providing a more individualized price estimate based on you or your family’s financial circumstances.</p>
<p>You might think all net price calculators are created equal. As researchers who study the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q98teuMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">economics</a> of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PVTM08QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">higher education</a>, we can tell you they are not.</p>
<p>In a 2021 peer-reviewed study, we found that the prices determined by net price calculators <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00353">vary by an average of US$5,700 per student</a> for students from families with the same or similar economic situations. That means the price determined by a net price calculator can be off by plus or minus $5,700. That’s pretty significant because – over the course of four years – that adds up to $22,800 and can determine whether and how much you need to borrow in student loans.</p>
<h2>Differences in calculators</h2>
<p>Some net price calculators are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0895904819867398">more user-friendly</a> than others.</p>
<p>Some of them ask students to provide financial information that is <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611240.pdf">hard to access</a>. For others, the calculators might provide cost of attendance information – as well as grant aid information – that <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2555051">could be outdated</a>.</p>
<p>Since all net price calculators don’t work the same way, it can also be <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611240.pdf">hard to compare</a> prices from different schools.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Education provides a free <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/netpricecalculator/#/">net price calculator template</a>. It doesn’t require that much information, and most student users can provide the information on their own. </p>
<h2>Proposed improvements</h2>
<p>There’s a bill in Congress that aims to improve net price calculators. It’s called the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1448?r=45&s=1">Net Price Calculator Improvement Act</a>. </p>
<p>Introduced in April 2021 by Sen. Charles “Chuck” Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, the bill would create a minimum set of requirements for net price calculators. It would also allow for the U.S. Department of Education to create a universal net price calculator that would have students answer one set of questions and get net price estimates for several schools.</p>
<p>The bill has only a <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/s1448">3% chance of becoming law</a>, according to a website that scores bills based on their chances of being passed.</p>
<p>The federal net price calculator template requests information about a student’s household income. This is reportable in increments of $10,000 that range from $30,000 to $99,999. It also asks what your family size is, whether you plan to live in a college dorm or off-campus and how many family members are in college. This in turn allows the federal template net price calculator to generate identical financial aid estimates for similar students attending the same postsecondary institution. However, actual aid awards may be very different.</p>
<h2>In search of a fix</h2>
<p>Since figuring out financial aid is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775716301248?casa_token=JCWaXtmINpAAAAAA:QnNtKnhx-2HwG2fVDMHioEj1pGC6tcTGe-py8XGnTjvdkmwp2sNSQjeLcJ1dIgyexFYVQO_exQ">not easy to do</a>, we identified three simple changes that would make the federal net price calculator template more accurate.</p>
<h2>1. High school GPA</h2>
<p>Even though a lot of colleges and universities award merit-based aid – basically scholarships – the current template does not request any academic information. A simple change like asking students for their high school GPA could help better predict merit-based grants. On the user-facing side of the calculator, students would just enter their GPA. On the back end, where colleges enter their aid information, colleges could set up GPA requirements for students to get various scholarships offered through the school.</p>
<h2>2. Anticipated financial aid application timing</h2>
<p>Different colleges have <a href="https://studentaid.gov/articles/know-your-fafsa-deadlines/">different deadlines</a> for financial aid from within. If net price calculators could capture the date when a student plans to apply for financial aid, the calculator could include only aid the student would be eligible to receive. For example, if a student submits an application after a college’s institutional aid deadline but before a state or federal deadline, then the school’s calculator would include only state and federal aid in the net price estimate.</p>
<h2>3. Expanded income bracket</h2>
<p>The current income categories top out at $99,999, meaning that a family earning $100,000 is treated identically to a family earning 10 times that amount. An additional option of $100,000-$150,000 would help to distinguish upper-middle-income families from upper-income families. According to table A-2 on <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/income-poverty/p60-273.html">this Census website</a>, 15.3% of the 129.9 million households in the U.S. – or 19.9 million households – have incomes between $100,000 and $150,000.</p>
<p>The average undergraduate student from a family with a household income between $100,000 and $150,000 receives more than $4,400 in grant aid. This is according to a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/">National Postsecondary Student Aid Study</a> from 2016 – the most recent data available.</p>
<h2>Better estimates</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00353">Our study</a> included 7,600 students at 900 different colleges and universities. We had an even mix of public and private colleges. </p>
<p>We found that information collected on the current version of the federal template net price calculator accounts for 70% of the variation in actual aid awards for students attending the same university. In other words, the inputs these calculators require can account for 70 cents of every dollar in aid awarded.</p>
<p>Our proposed changes can help net price calculators do a better job of estimating aid for similar students. With these additions, we found that the information that net price calculators use would predict 86 cents of each dollar in aid awarded.</p>
<p>Even if these changes were adopted, there would still be a lot of variation in the prices determined by net price calculators. The variation changes based on the type of college in question. For instance, at private, four-year institutions, amounts varied by nearly $11,000. By contrast, within community colleges, it was about $2,400.</p>
<p>Taking these figures into account, a federal net price calculator template could also help prospective students estimate high and low ends of their expected grant awards.</p>
<p>Our proposed modifications are straightforward to implement and require only basic information from student users. They also allow for a universal federal template that colleges and universities can adapt to their own financial aid award processes.</p>
<p>As Congress considers legislation to improve how net price calculators look and function, keeping the tool simple to use is one of the most important aspects to consider. Choosing a college is among the most consequential financial decisions that students and their families will ever make. More accurate and easy-to-use tools should make the decision easier than it would otherwise be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>Net price calculators – online tools meant to estimate what students will actually pay for college – can produce varying results for students in similar economic situations, researchers find.Aaron Anthony, Director of Operations, Institute for Learning, University of PittsburghLindsay Page, Adjunct associate, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1609602021-10-08T12:26:01Z2021-10-08T12:26:01Z4 tips for choosing a good college – and getting accepted<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424807/original/file-20211005-27-1ya6sqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C6689%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">First-generation college students have less 'college knowledge' than students whose parents went to college.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-women-work-together-on-something-in-college-royalty-free-image/671473004?adppopup=true">SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With more than <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84">2,800 four-year colleges and universities</a> in the United States, finding the one that is right for you can feel overwhelming.</p>
<p>The task can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X211011894">particularly hard</a> for high school students who are the first in their families to attend college – commonly referred to as first-generation students.</p>
<p>In my experience as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jxzP-D4AAAAJ&hl=en">professor and researcher</a> focused on how to improve the transition from high school to college, I have found that there is a significant “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X211011894">college knowledge gap</a>” between first-generation college students and students whose parents went to college.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76#:%7E:text=Between%202007%E2%80%9308%20and%202017,percent%2C%20after%20adjustment%20for%20inflation.">ever-rising costs of a college education</a>, the stakes of finding the right college are high.</p>
<p>With that in mind, here are four tips that can help first-generation college students not only get into the college of their choice, but also secure scholarship money to help pay for it.</p>
<h2>1. Look up how students do after they graduate</h2>
<p>If you want to see your odds of getting into a particular school, how much it will cost or what percentage of students graduate from the school each year, the federal government has provided several websites to do that.</p>
<p>One website is called the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/">IPEDS</a>. More user-friendly websites include the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/">College Navigator</a> and the <a href="https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/">College Scorecard</a>. </p>
<p>The College Scorecard provides information about how much student loan debt and what kind of salary you can expect after graduation. This information can be looked up by particular majors.</p>
<p>If you see that a low percentage of students from a particular school even graduate, you may want to ask an admissions representative at the school if they have updated information because the data in the federal websites is based on students who started as freshmen at the college seven to nine years ago. You may also want to consider a different school. Similarly, you may want to explore other colleges if you see that graduates from a particular school have bigger debt loads or lower salaries than most other graduates.</p>
<h2>2. Do well in challenging high school classes</h2>
<p>The single best thing you can do to increase your chances of getting into your dream college is to take the most challenging classes available at your high school, and to do as well as possible in those classes. </p>
<p>This will also help you get scholarship money, as many colleges award merit-based scholarships based at least in part on your high school GPA. Doing well in your classes is more important than admission test scores. According to an <a href="https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/publications/state-of-college-admission/">annual survey of college admissions directors</a>, GPA has been more important than SAT or ACT test scores since long before the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>3. Show your interest</h2>
<p>In addition to reviewing your transcript, colleges also consider various nonacademic factors. Of course, this includes things like extracurricular activities and volunteer experience. But <a href="https://www.nacacnet.org/globalassets/documents/publications/research/2018_soca/soca2019_all.pdf">more than 4 out of 5 colleges</a> also look at something called “demonstrated interest.” </p>
<p>Perhaps the strongest way to demonstrate interest in a college is by applying early decision to your first-choice college. When you apply early decision, you are committing to attend the college if you are accepted. The only ethical way to not accept an early decision offer is if attending the college is not affordable for you and your family.</p>
<p>Other ways to demonstrate interest in a college include visiting the college’s campus and taking a tour. You may also participate in an optional admissions interview, follow the college on social media, and read and respond to email messages sent from the college.</p>
<p>If you follow a college on social media, be sure there is nothing on your account that could hurt your chances of being admitted. Some students have had <a href="https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/journal-of-college-admission/racist-post-admission-rescinded/">college offers rescinded</a> as a result of things they posted online.</p>
<h2>4. Organize information to do comparisons</h2>
<p>Once you gather information you feel is important about each college, such as graduation rates, interesting majors and how much tuition will cost after you get financial aid, organize it in table form on a spreadsheet so you can do a visual comparison. But if you’re not into making spreadsheets, the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/">College Navigator</a> allows you to “favorite” schools for comparison. Similarly, the <a href="https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/">College Scorecard</a> allows you to “compare” information side by side for schools you choose.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Whatever method you choose, be sure to do the comparisons again after you get your acceptance letters, which should detail how much financial aid or scholarship money you are getting to defray the cost of tuition. The comparisons will be even more crucial as you get closer to making your final choice.</p>
<p>It’s natural to have thoughts and feelings about a particular school. For instance, you might be <a href="https://www.collegecovered.com/getting-into-college/pick-college-on-sports/">enamored with the school’s football team</a> or heard that a particular school is a <a href="https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/top-party-schools/">great place to party</a>. By taking the time to do a little homework about the colleges you may want to attend, you’ll at least have some objective information to go along with whatever thoughts and feelings you have about a given school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Poynton previously received funding from National Science Foundation and the Massachusetts School Counselor Association </span></em></p>An expert on ‘college knowledge’ suggests strategies to boost your chances of getting into your dream school.Timothy Poynton, Associate Professor of Counseling and School Psychology, UMass BostonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663382021-09-10T12:26:49Z2021-09-10T12:26:49ZStudent loan debt is crushing Americans – 4 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416822/original/file-20210818-13-yypj2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C0%2C4537%2C3100&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Currently, the total outstanding federal student loan debt is $1.7 trillion. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-reality-of-college-tuition-debt-was-on-display-at-the-news-photo/1141704405?adppopup=true">Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>US$1.7 trillion. That’s how much college students and graduates <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SLOAS">owed in federal student loan debt</a> as of July 2021. </p>
<p>The rising amount of student loan debt can pose serious challenges for individual borrowers. For that reason, colleges and universities and even the federal government have been pursuing solutions to alleviate the burden. But what are the best ways to go about student debt relief? Who should qualify? And what practical effect will debt relief have, not only on individual borrowers but society and the economy as a whole?</p>
<p>To answer these questions, The Conversation sought out an array of scholars – from economists to philosophers – who all specialize to some degree in student loan debt and how it impacts those who borrow.</p>
<h2>1. How does student loan debt affect borrowers?</h2>
<p>Student loan debt doesn’t just cause financial harm to borrowers. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-padgett-walsh-704116">Kate Padgett Walsh</a>, an associate professor of philosophy at Iowa State University, argues that it also causes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.027">mental</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-489">emotional</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-018-9594-3">physical harms</a> as well.</p>
<p>Walsh and two other scholars – Dalié Jiménez, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and Raphaël Charron-Chénier, an assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University – write on <a href="https://theconversation.com/student-loan-debt-is-costing-recent-grads-much-more-than-just-money-158189">how student loans affect borrowers</a> well after they graduate.</p>
<p>“Students who are the first in their family to attend college and low-income students have a much harder time paying off their student loans, and they end up defaulting more often than other students,” Walsh and her colleagues write. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/student-loan-debt-is-costing-recent-grads-much-more-than-just-money-158189">Student loan debt is costing recent grads much more than just money</a>
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<h2>2. Will student debt relief help the economy?</h2>
<p>Some economists argue that relieving student loan debt will <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/25/782070151/forgiving-student-debt-would-boost-economy">help boost the economy</a>. However, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-chittenden-1169666">William Chittenden</a>, an economist at Texas State University, writes that the economic benefits of canceling student debt might be modest at best. </p>
<p>“If all US$1.5 trillion in federal student loans were forgiven, the average borrower would have an extra US$393 per month,” Chittenden writes. “It is estimated that the economy would only grow by about $100 billion, or about 0.5% …”</p>
<p>Chittenden <a href="https://theconversation.com/canceling-student-loan-debt-will-barely-boost-the-economy-but-a-targeted-approach-could-help-certain-groups-162076">argues</a> that student debt relief should be targeted toward borrowers that typically owe less than $10,000 but who are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/upshot/why-students-with-smallest-debts-need-the-greatest-help.html">more likely to default on their loans</a>. Demographically, this would benefit people of color and women the most, since <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/07/student-loan-forgiveness-would-benefit-these-groups-the-most-.html">women on average owe more than two-thirds</a> of outstanding student loan debt, and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/07/student-loan-forgiveness-would-benefit-these-groups-the-most-.html">85% of Black college graduates</a> owe money on student loans, compared to just 69% of white college graduates. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canceling-student-loan-debt-will-barely-boost-the-economy-but-a-targeted-approach-could-help-certain-groups-162076">Canceling student loan debt will barely boost the economy, but a targeted approach could help certain groups</a>
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<h2>3. Who benefits when colleges clear outstanding balances?</h2>
<p>Colleges and universities are using federal money from the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/arp.html">American Rescue Plan</a> to clear outstanding debts for students and recent graduates who enrolled in their institution on or after March 13, 2020. <a href="https://theconversation.com/colleges-are-using-federal-stimulus-money-to-clear-students-past-due-debts-an-economist-answers-five-questions-165657">Both students and their respective institutions will benefit</a> from this debt clearance, according to Chittenden. The debt clearance will enable students to continue with their education and pursue career goals, he writes. Meanwhile, institutions will be able to clear debts without tapping into their own finances. </p>
<p>“For recent graduates, having debt outstanding to their school may prevent them from obtaining a transcript or proof that they graduated,” Chittenden writes. “By clearing the debts for recent graduates, alums can, as noted by the chancellor of City University of New York, Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, ‘move ahead in pursuit of their educational and career objectives without the specter of unpaid tuition and fees.’” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/colleges-are-using-federal-stimulus-money-to-clear-students-past-due-debts-an-economist-answers-five-questions-165657">Colleges are using federal stimulus money to clear students' past-due debts – an economist answers five questions</a>
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<h2>4. Is filing for bankruptcy a solution to clearing student loan debt?</h2>
<p>As things stand now, student loan borrowers are mostly barred from discharging their loans through bankruptcy. However, under the proposed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2598/text">FRESH START through Bankruptcy Act</a>, borrowers can get their federal loan debts discharged if they prove that the debt caused “undue hardship” during the first 10 years of payment. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brent-evans-955091">Brent Evans</a>, assistant professor of public policy and higher education, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-patrick-shaw-956386">Matthew Patrick Shaw</a>, assistant professor of public policy, education and law, both at Vanderbilt University, explain <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-student-loans-be-cleared-through-bankruptcy-4-questions-answered-166308">what proving undue hardship entails</a> for borrowers looking to discharge their student loan debt through bankruptcy.</p>
<p>“Declaring bankruptcy is not an ideal option to deal with student loans because it comes with substantial immediate and long-term consequences,” they write.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-student-loans-be-cleared-through-bankruptcy-4-questions-answered-166308">Can student loans be cleared through bankruptcy? 4 questions answered</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As federal student loan debt continues to rise, a number of scholars discuss how debt affects the nation’s college students, graduates and the economy as a whole.Jamaal Abdul-Alim, Education Editor, The ConversationAlvin Buyinza, Editorial and Outreach Assistant, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1663082021-08-25T12:27:17Z2021-08-25T12:27:17ZCan student loans be cleared through bankruptcy? 4 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417615/original/file-20210824-17-yedxbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3918%2C2610&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Proving that student loans are too hard to pay off is often a difficult burden to meet.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/college-and-money-royalty-free-image/1294785284?adppopup=true">Kameleon007</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>For decades, student loans have mostly been prohibited from being discharged through bankruptcy proceedings. That could change under the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2598/text">FRESH START through Bankruptcy Act</a>. Here, public policy scholars Brent Evans and Matthew Patrick Shaw, both of Vanderbilt University, explain why student loan debt cannot usually be cleared through bankruptcy and how that might change if the proposed bill becomes law</em>.</p>
<h2>Why can’t people get rid of student loans through bankruptcy now?</h2>
<p>Although not impossible, discharging student loans in bankruptcy is difficult. Due to <a href="https://www.tateesq.com/learn/student-loan-bankruptcy-law-history">a 1976 law</a>, student loans are not treated during bankruptcy proceedings like other forms of debt, such as credit card debt or auto loans. This policy stems from a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Report_of_the_Commission_on_the_Bankrupt.html?id=q1JtuAEACAAJ">federal commission on bankruptcy laws</a>, which heard testimony that claimed the easy discharge of educational loans in bankruptcy could undermine federal student loan programs. Congress was concerned that students might borrow thousands of dollars from the federal government, graduate, declare bankruptcy to have their student loans discharged and never repay their educational debt.</p>
<p>In an extension of the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/higher-education-act-of-1965-hea.asp">Higher Education Act of 1965</a>, Congress passed the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/94/statute/STATUTE-90/STATUTE-90-Pg2081.pdf">1976 law</a>, which made borrowers wait five years after the first student loan payment was due before they could have the loan discharged through bankruptcy. Congress created an exception that allowed for discharge within that five-year period if the loan caused “undue hardship.”</p>
<p>Congress extended the five-year bankruptcy ban to seven years in <a href="https://www.congress.gov/101/statute/STATUTE-104/STATUTE-104-Pg4789.pdf">1990</a>. Then Congress extended it to the borrower’s lifetime in <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/6/text?overview=closed">1998</a>.</p>
<p>Currently the “undue hardship” exemption is the only way to have student loans discharged in bankruptcy – that is a much higher threshold than many other common forms of debt. This higher threshold includes both federal student loans and, since <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-109publ8/html/PLAW-109publ8.htm">2005</a>, most forms of private student loans. </p>
<h2>Haven’t there been cases where people still got rid of their students loans through bankruptcy?</h2>
<p>Absolutely. Though difficult, it is still <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-you-get-rid-of-your-student-loans-by-filing-for-bankruptcy-130995">possible to have student loans discharged</a> through bankruptcy by meeting the undue hardship requirement. A 2011 study found that <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1894445">only 1 in 1,000 student loan borrowers who declared bankruptcy</a> even tried to have their student loans discharged. However, those that did succeeded at a rate of 40%.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.usbankruptcycode.org/chapter-5-creditors-the-debtor-and-the-estate/subchapter-ii-debtors-duties-and-benefits/section-523-exceptions-to-discharge/">Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code</a> does not set out a specific test to determine what qualifies as undue hardship. The federal courts are split on what the appropriate standard should be for discharging student loan debt. The Second Circuit case, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5270362258430051298&q=brunner+v.+new+york&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">Brunner v. New York State Higher Education Services Corporation</a>, established three requirements that determine whether undue hardship applies.</p>
<p>First, the borrower must demonstrate that if forced to repay the student loans, they will be unable to meet a minimal standard of living based on income and bills.</p>
<p>Second, the borrower must be unable to repay for a “significant portion of the repayment period.”</p>
<p>Third, they must have made good-faith efforts to repay the student loan. </p>
<p>If a bankruptcy court agrees that a borrower meets these three requirements, the court can discharge the student loan debt. </p>
<p>But bankruptcy courts in the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14163741936545416277&q=322+F.3d+549+(8th+Cir.+2003)&hl=en&as_sdt=6,43">Eighth Circuit</a> (in the Upper Midwest) — and occasionally courts in the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14715509405075894100&q=435+B.R.+791+(B.A.P.+1st+Cir.+2010)&hl=en&as_sdt=6,43">First Circuit</a> (in Puerto Rico and parts of New England) — reject Brunner and examine the “totality of the circumstances” instead.</p>
<p>For example, the 2003 case <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14163741936545416277&q=322+F.3d+549+(8th+Cir.+2003)&hl=en&as_sdt=6,43">In re Long</a> states that a borrower can meet the undue hardship requirement in a different way from Brunner. The borrower must establish that they cannot meet a minimum standard of living given financial resources, necessary living expenses and other circumstances.</p>
<p>This test is considered less difficult to meet than Brunner because it does not require a borrower to establish “certainty of hopelessness” or “total incapacitation.”</p>
<h2>Explain the proposed law to allow bankruptcy for student loans</h2>
<p>If enacted, the bipartisan <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2598/text">FRESH START through Bankruptcy Act</a> would change the current law to remove the lifetime ban on student loan discharge in bankruptcy and replace it with a 10-year ban. </p>
<p>Under the proposed law, if borrowers can show that paying their student loans caused undue hardship during the first 10 years, then they can get it discharged after that 10-year period is over without having to prove that it would be an undue hardship from that point forward.</p>
<p>This change would only apply to federal student loans, not private student loans. Any discharge of private student loans, regardless of the repayment timeline, would still require proving undue hardship.</p>
<p>To help shoulder some of the financial cost to the federal government of this proposed change, the bill also includes an accountability measure for colleges and universities. The schools would have to reimburse the government for a portion (either 50%, 30% or 20%) of the discharged student loan amount depending on the cohort default rate and repayment rate of the institution at the time the first loan payment comes due.</p>
<h2>Would bankruptcy become an attractive way to get rid of student loans?</h2>
<p>Declaring bankruptcy is not an ideal option to deal with student loans because it comes with substantial immediate and long-term consequences. The immediate consequence is that bankruptcy can result in the sale of property to pay off debts. The longer-term consequence is that, depending on the type, <a href="https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/bankruptcy-chapter-7-vs-chapter-13/">Chapter 7 or 13</a>, bankruptcy stays on credit reports for seven to 10 years. The substantial negative mark on credit reports means it will be more difficult to obtain a credit card, auto loan and mortgage. When any form of credit is obtained, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/674573">interest rates are likely to be much higher</a> with a bankruptcy on record.</p>
<p>Another solution to a large student loan debt is to enroll in an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven">income-driven repayment plan</a>, such as <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven#repaye">Revised Pay As You Earn</a>. These plans limit the amount of the monthly payment on federal student loans to a percentage of your <a href="https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/topic/glossary/article/discretionary-income">discretionary income</a>, which is the difference between your income and 150% of the state poverty guideline, adjusted for family size. </p>
<p>After 20 years of repayment for undergraduate loans (only 10 years if the borrower is in a public service job), the remaining balance is forgiven. If the new bill becomes law, borrowers in income-driven repayment plans will have a choice. They can either pursue bankruptcy after 10 years and suffer the consequences, or continue paying through loan forgiveness.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>Congress first imposed a lifetime ban on discharging student loans through bankruptcy in 1998. Two scholars explain how that could change under a proposed law.Brent Evans, Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Higher Education, Vanderbilt UniversityMatthew Patrick Shaw, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Education and Law, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1440312020-08-11T12:09:47Z2020-08-11T12:09:47ZShould students get a discount if they won’t be on campus because of COVID-19?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351827/original/file-20200807-14-aec0j9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">COVID-19 has caused colleges to spend more to cope with the pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/beautiful-young-woman-working-at-home-with-dog-royalty-free-image/1215354586?adppopup=true">elenaleonova/GettyImages</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not long after the COVID-19 pandemic caused colleges to start teaching remotely, students <a href="https://www.artsci.com/studentpoll-covid-19-edition-2">balked at the idea of paying full tuition</a> for online learning. It’s not hard to understand why. After all, they were not getting the football and basketball games, student clubs, access to labs and the library and the out-of-class conversations that are all part of the typical campus experience.</p>
<p>Although students who study online will not pay the room, board and activities fees that typically cover nonacademic costs, concern about paying full tuition continues this fall, as many universities opt to <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/heres-a-list-of-colleges-plans-for-reopening-in-the-fall/">continue online instruction</a> in the interest of keeping students, faculty and staff safe from the pandemic.</p>
<p>Is it right to expect to pay less tuition for online learning? Or are colleges justified in charging the full tuition price when classes – at least <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/heres-a-list-of-colleges-plans-for-reopening-in-the-fall/">at many schools</a> – won’t be taking place on campus?</p>
<p>As a longtime college admissions and enrollment leader – and now as a professor of higher education – I have some insights. One of the most important is that <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=31">fewer than one in five</a> families pay the full price for in-person instruction to begin with. They are getting a break through scholarships and need-based grants from the colleges. In other words, most students are already getting a discount.</p>
<h2>Price versus cost</h2>
<p>In addition, it’s important to understand the difference between the price of education and the cost of education. These two things might often be misunderstood because the terms “price” and “cost” are often used interchangeably as though they are the same. But there’s a big difference between the two.</p>
<p>Price is the amount of money charged to a consumer – in this case a student – for a good or service. Cost is the amount of money the provider spends to produce that good or provide that service. Unlike in business, the price colleges charge – that is, tuition – is almost always less than the cost to provide instruction. The difference is covered by taxpayers and grants at public colleges and by endowment earnings, gifts and grants at private colleges.</p>
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<p>In other words, even when their families are paying “full price,” Americans are not paying for the full cost of their education. </p>
<p>However, the cost of instruction during the pandemic has actually <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/covid-19s-forceful-impact-shakes-college-business-officers-confidence">increased</a> due to the need for new technology platforms, training and online instructional support. Faculty are still teaching and are available to students for extra help and consultation. And because some students and staff will be on campus even if teaching is primarily online, colleges have <a href="https://theconversation.com/going-online-due-to-covid-19-this-fall-could-hurt-colleges-future-138926">spent millions of dollars</a> updating and maintaining their campuses for COVID-19 safety. </p>
<p>With the toll of the pandemic bearing down on our nation and its colleges and universities, that may not be something that students and their parents necessarily want to hear. They see that they are being asked to pay “in-person” tuition prices for remote learning and feel like it’s a ripoff.</p>
<p>However, it is important to understand that in expecting colleges to reduce tuition when they are paying more to deliver instruction is to ask colleges to take on an even bigger share of the cost than they already do.</p>
<h2>Financial aid factors</h2>
<p>Even if schools offered “online discounts,” it may not make as big a difference as people think because of the way that financial aid works.</p>
<p>At four-year public and nonprofit private colleges and universities, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=31">85% of undergraduates</a> receive financial aid. These students not only benefit from a list price that is lower than the cost borne by colleges, but they are getting a further discount in price through financial aid.</p>
<p>This leads to an important point.</p>
<p>Financial aid is based on the price charged minus what a family would be expected to pay, based on a federal formula. So, if tuition were lowered, students would get less financial aid and would therefore be expected to pay the same amount of money no matter what the tuition charge.</p>
<p>As a result, even at the colleges offering an online discount, the students who need that discount the most are going to benefit the least. For example, if tuition is US$40,000 and you are expected to pay $10,000, you might get $30,000 in various forms of aid. If tuition is reduced to $36,000, you are still expected to pay $10,000, and you might get $26,000 in aid.</p>
<p>The tab for tuition does not generally cover out-of-class experiences such as student activities and residence hall functions. When going remote, colleges will not be charging residence hall, food and activities fees. That means colleges will lose revenue on those things. They will lay off some staff who work with student groups.</p>
<p>So while charges for room and board and student activities and athletics fees will be eliminated for online-only instruction, tuition pricing will either be untouched or be slightly reduced. But the ability for a college to reduce tuition will depend largely on the school’s financial health.</p>
<h2>Price adjustments</h2>
<p>Even in light of these realities, some schools are still lowering tuition for online learning.</p>
<p>Although they’d rather not, many colleges with small <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-should-we-measure-the-size-of-a-universitys-endowment-54634">endowments</a> and limited state aid will lower tuition. These schools typically are not as well known and risk losing students if they do not charge less. They will take in less money per student but expect to recover at least some of the loss with a larger enrollment.</p>
<p>Some of the wealthiest schools have already reduced tuition at the edges.</p>
<p>Williams College, a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts, with its $3 billion endowment and 2,000 students, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-face-a-no-win-dilemma-to-cut-or-not-to-cut-tuition">cut tuition by 15%</a>. In so doing, its provost <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-face-a-no-win-dilemma-to-cut-or-not-to-cut-tuition">admitted</a> to being concerned about the pressure this would put on less well-endowed competitors to do the same.</p>
<p>However, Williams’ leaders thought it was the right thing to do for their students.</p>
<p>Princeton, with a <a href="https://planetprinceton.com/2019/10/11/princeton-universitys-endowment-rose-to-26-1-billion-at-end-of-the-fiscal-year/">$26 billion</a> endowment, applied a <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-face-a-no-win-dilemma-to-cut-or-not-to-cut-tuition">10% discount</a> to its full-freight tuition. When a college has the resources, this is certainly easier to do.</p>
<p>Just below these institutions are schools that are well known but not as wealthy. They will not likely lose students because of tuition pricing but cannot afford to offer online discounts.</p>
<p>Dickinson College, a liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, where I served as vice president from 1999-2009; Smith College, also in Massachusetts; and Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, are examples of institutions not offering online discounts.</p>
<p>Dickinson College president <a href="https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20043/about/4030/dickinson_college_updates_on_fall_2020/5">Margee Ensign sought to reassure</a> students that the online fall semester will “feature the same expert faculty and the same small class sizes,” and will also “maintain rigor” and “close student-faculty relationships.” </p>
<h2>Skepticism and potential benefit</h2>
<p>Predictably, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/07/28/four-key-things-students-say-they-want-college-fall-opinion">many students are not convinced</a> that online instruction will be of the same quality as in-person. Plus, many students are understandably upset because they did not expect to spend their college days doing remote learning.</p>
<p>But there is a potential long-term benefit.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has forced higher education leaders to control costs by changing priorities and eliminating nonessential spending in ways that they didn’t have to think as much about doing before. As a result, perhaps tuition increases will moderate in the short term, and stay more affordable in the future. After all of the stress and pain caused by the pandemic, this may be one positive change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Massa 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>An enrollment specialist explains why colleges can or can’t charge less for tuition amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many to hold their classes online.Robert Massa, Adjunct Professor, Rossier School of Education, USC, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1297352020-02-21T12:34:58Z2020-02-21T12:34:58ZFederal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314081/original/file-20200206-43074-tgcths.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students who rely heavily on financial aid tend to be concentrated in non-selective colleges, new research shows.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-standing-together-during-graduation-royalty-free-image/519517477">Ariel Skelly/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pell Grants are one way the federal government helps people pay for college. </p>
<p>During the 2020 to 2021 school year, eligible students can receive up to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell">US$6,345</a> through the program, depending on where they go to school, how many classes they take and how much money their family makes.</p>
<p>Despite this assistance, students who receive Pell Grants are less likely than other students to graduate from a four-year institution within six years: <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/10/25/a-look-at-pell-grant-recipients-graduation-rates/">51%</a> versus 59% for students who first enrolled in 2010. Six years is the timespan the federal government uses to measure graduation rates.</p>
<p>One reason for this disparity is that Pell Grant recipients <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">tend to go</a> to less selective colleges and universities. <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">Graduation rates are lower for these institutions</a> than for more selective institutions.</p>
<p>For instance, at four-year colleges with open admissions – that is, an institution where just about anyone who applies gets in – only <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">31%</a> of students who first enrolled full-time in 2011 graduated within six years. At selective schools, which admit only a quarter of their applicants, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">87%</a> did.</p>
<p>We are scholars who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MpiZLOEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">why students attend different colleges</a> and other <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ecTgyEUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">issues of fairness in higher education</a>. One of our recent studies finds that institutions that enroll high numbers of Pell grant recipients also have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1521025119892934">other characteristics</a> that are linked with lower graduation rates, such as having fewer students live on campus and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1521025119892934">spending less per student on instruction</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings have implications for policymakers, taxpayers, college leaders and Pell Grant students themselves. </p>
<h2>College choice</h2>
<p><a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">About a third</a> of the nation’s approximately <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">22 million</a> college students received these grants in 2018. The federal government spent about <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">$28 billion</a> on Pell Grants in that school year.</p>
<p>More than half, <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/2019-trendsinsa-figs22a-22b.pdf">58%</a>, of Pell Grant recipients who are financially dependent on their parents had family incomes below $30,000 in 2015-16. </p>
<p>But not all Pell Grant recipients are young or live with their parents. About half (53%) take care of themselves and <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/2019-trendsinsa-figs22a-22b.pdf">42% were age 24 or older</a>. </p>
<h2>More degrees</h2>
<p>Congress <a href="http://www.ihep.org/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/pubs/pell_final_website_may_2015.pdf">first created</a> what is now known as the Federal Pell Grant program in 1972. A primary goal was to address financial barriers to college enrollment for students from low-income families.</p>
<p>Even with the availability of the federal Pell Grant, college enrollment rates <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=42">continue to be lower</a> for students from lower-income families.</p>
<p>And, simply enrolling in college isn’t enough to lift these students out of poverty. They need to graduate. <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/3pathways/">Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce</a> has found that increasingly, “good jobs” – defined as a job “that pays at least $35,000 for workers 25 to 44 and at least $45,000 for workers 45 to 64” – require at least a bachelor’s degree. </p>
<h2>Structural barriers</h2>
<p>In a report we produced with The Pell Institute, a research and policy analysis organization that focuses on low-income, first-generation and disabled students, we found that, at community colleges, <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">55%</a> of first-year, full-time students got federal grants, including Pell Grants, in 2016-17.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who get the Pell Grant are underrepresented at selective colleges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-in-graduation-gown-looking-away-royalty-free-image/961129028">Cavan Images / Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The percentage was even higher at for-profit colleges – <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">68%</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast, at the nation’s most academically selective colleges, only <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">16%</a> of first-time, full-time students received federal grants.</p>
<p>One reason Pell Grant recipients <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">more commonly attend</a> open-enrollment and less selective colleges is that students from low-income families more often attend K-12 schools with <a href="https://www.researchforaction.org/educational-opportunity/">fewer academically demanding courses</a>. Lack of academic preparation reduces their chances of getting into a competitive college. And it contributes to the <a href="https://www.ecs.org/developmental-education-an-introduction-for-policymakers/">need to take developmental or remedial education courses</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ThePellPartnership_EdTrust_20152.pdf">2015 report published by The Education Trust</a> shows that graduation rates are higher for Pell recipients at more academically selective institutions. At institutions enrolling students with the highest SAT scores, graduation rates were 74% for Pell recipients and 79% for non-Pell recipients. At institutions enrolling students with the lowest SAT scores, <a href="https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ThePellPartnership_EdTrust_20152.pdf">graduation rates averaged</a> 37% for Pell recipients and 42% for non-Pell recipients. </p>
<p>Lower-income students who attend the most selective schools also <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3007490##">fare as well as their affluent peers</a> in terms of how much money they make after college, according to Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University-based research and policy analysis group. </p>
<h2>Supporting low-income students</h2>
<p>Much attention has focused on increasing enrollment of Pell recipients in the nation’s most selective institutions. While important, we believe these efforts are not enough. </p>
<p>Much more must be done to improve graduation rates at the open-access and less selective colleges in which many more of the nation’s Pell recipients enroll. In fall 2015, just <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=18">8% of all undergraduates</a> were attending the nation’s most and highly selective colleges and universities. By comparison, 37% of all undergraduates were enrolled in community colleges and other two-year colleges. </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/129735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Some of the data and research in this article was generated with a support from a grant from Lumina Foundation. The findings and opinions are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of the funder. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Wright-Kim 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>New research shows that low-income students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant tend to go to non-selective colleges – and why that hurts their chances of graduation.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaJeremy Wright-Kim, PhD Student, Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309952020-02-20T12:18:00Z2020-02-20T12:18:00ZCan you get rid of your student loans by filing for bankruptcy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315570/original/file-20200215-10995-46n5i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Borrowers looking to eliminate student loan debt through bankruptcy have to clear a series of high hurdles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/grad-cap-on-cash-royalty-free-image/518338000?adppopup=true">zimmytws/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Paying back student loans is not an easy thing to do. <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2019-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2018-student-loans-and-other-education-debt.htm">One out of every 5</a> borrowers with outstanding student loan debt has fallen behind their payments.</p>
<p>There are several ways borrowers can get help to deal with their debt burden. Bankruptcy is the most extreme. In general, the law does not allow you to get rid of student loans through bankruptcy. One exception to the rule is if a borrower can prove that paying back the loans “<a href="https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-11-bankruptcy/11-usc-sect-523.html">would impose an undue hardship on [them] and [their] dependents</a>.” The threshold for proving that is pretty high. Plus, there’s not a lot of legal guidance on what precisely an undue hardship is.</p>
<p>Not many people try to get rid of student loans through bankruptcy. It could be because they either don’t know its an option or don’t think they will prevail. One study found that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1894445">only 0.1%</a> of student loan borrowers who have filed for bankruptcy tried to discharge their student loans. Among those who do try, the success rates are high. <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1894445">Nearly 40%</a> of borrowers who challenge their student debt receive at least a partial discharge.</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet weighed in on what exactly makes for an “undue hardship.” However, most federal courts follow the 1987 Second Circuit decision, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5270362258430051298&q=brunner+v.+new+york&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">Brunner v. New York</a>.</p>
<p>Under Brunner, borrowers can meet the “undue hardship” exception by showing three things. First, borrowers must show that they can’t – based on their current income and bills – maintain a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5270362258430051298&q=brunner+v.+new+york&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">“minimal”</a> standard of living if forced to repay. Second, they must show that they will not be able to repay for a “significant portion of the repayment period.” Third, they must show that they’ve made good faith efforts to repay the debt.</p>
<h2>Proving hardship</h2>
<p>Of these three prongs, the first is the most important. Typically, a borrower has to show they have both maximized their income and reduced their expenses to cover only basic needs. </p>
<p>As an example of failure to maximize income, consider the case in which a bankruptcy court ruled against a borrower who had taken on <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11052127559752056935&q=in+re+Perkins+2004&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">debt to attend law school</a>. Although she provided evidence that her mental health made it unlikely that she would ever become a licensed attorney, the court found that, considering her education, she had not pursued other gainful employment, like paralegal work, to earn as much as she could.</p>
<p>Borrowers may find it difficult to prove that they’ve done everything to minimize expenses. Courts have found even a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11592824822440516788&q=318+B.R.+300&hl=en&as_sdt=6,43">monthly cable TV bill as low as US$35 to be excessive</a> in light of unpaid student loans.</p>
<p>A borrower’s age and disability status are also factors a court would consider as influencing a borrower’s expected earning capacity. At the same time, borrowers who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1106211503141415666&q=in+re+little&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">obtain loans later in life</a> cannot rely on their age as “additional circumstances.” But, if a borrower becomes <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8539061308319439307&q=higgins+v.+spellings+2009&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">“totally and permanently disabled,”</a> the Department of Education must discharge their federal student loans upon application without resorting to bankruptcy.</p>
<p>If borrowers meet the first undue hardship criterion, then they must show that the hardship condition is likely to last for the rest of the repayment period. As a judge explained in a case known as <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca6/17-8041/17-8041-2019-05-30.html">In re Roberson</a>, because student-loan agreements rely on the borrower’s future income, discharge requires a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12243411048382222886&q=in+re+roberson+%22certainty+of+hopelessness%22&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">“certainty of hopelessness</a>, not simply a present inability to fulfill financial commitment.”</p>
<p>Finally, the court must evaluate a borrower’s “<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5270362258430051298&q=brunner+v.+new+york&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">good faith</a>” efforts to pay their student-loan debt. Good faith efforts include showing that you’ve been in regular contact with the loan servicer or tried to get your payments suspended for a brief period. Good faith efforts could also include having tried different repayment plans and making some payments on the loan, even if those payments were below the amount owed.</p>
<p>If a court finds you have met all three Brunner criteria, it may grant a full or partial discharge of the student loan. A court could also decide to just <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3139218858537953814&q=in+re+miller+2000&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">relieve a borrower from paying interests or fees</a>. Or, a court could <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18176318203022930024&q=in+re+kapinos&hl=en&as_sdt=3,43">let the borrower pay small payments now and bigger payments later</a> with the idea that the borrower will be making more money in the future. </p>
<h2>Other options</h2>
<p>Satisfying all three conditions may be challenging. Other, more accessible forms of relief exist. If the financial strain is temporary, a borrower may be eligible for options known as “deferment” or “forbearance.” Both deferment and forbearance suspend the required student-loan payment for a limited time period but do not get rid of the debt.</p>
<p>In order to qualify for a <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/lower-payments/get-temporary-relief/deferment">deferment</a>, you need to meet certain criteria, such as having enrolled in college or being unemployed. <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/lower-payments/get-temporary-relief/forbearance">Forbearance</a>, on the other hand, can be requested for a broader range of financial difficulties. Deferments last for as long as the qualifying situation, but a forbearance is limited to 12 months. Deferments must be granted, but a forbearance request can be denied by the loan servicer.</p>
<p>Another option to reduce the monthly payment amount is pursuing an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven">income-driven repayment plan</a>. These are typically only available for federal student loans.</p>
<p>Although eligibility differs across <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/income-driven">four different plans</a>, most borrowers are eligible to enter the <a href="https://edfinancial.com/Help-Center/Lower-Payment-Options/Income-Driven-Repayment-Information-Center/Revised-Pay-As-You-Earn-(REPAYE)">REPAYE</a> plan. Each plan bases the monthly payment on income and can lower payments, even to zero dollars in some cases. Under REPAYE, the monthly payment is defined as 10% of discretionary monthly income. Forgiveness for all four plans is offered after making payments for 20-25 years, although borrowers working in the public sector, such as a teacher, or employee at a not-for-profit organization, may qualify for <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service">forgiveness after 10 years of payments</a>.</p>
<p>You may have heard that most people who apply for public service loan forgiveness <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/05/politics/rejection-rates-public-student-loan-forgiveness-fix-trnd/index.html">are rejected</a>. While this is technically true, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">government data</a> show that the majority of applicants had not yet completed the required 10 years of repayment, and another quarter of applicants did not correctly file the application. Regardless of the loan forgiveness options, an income-driven repayment plan could lower the monthly repayment amount.</p>
<p>Finally, borrowers may also want to try to negotiate directly with the loan servicer. This may not always prove successful, but lenders can voluntarily accept reduced monthly payments, lower interest rates, or lower lump sum payments up front instead of having borrowers repay the full balance of the loan over time. So it’s worth a shot to call your loan servicer if you are having trouble making payments.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brent Evans has previously received funding from the Lumina Foundation to study student borrowing decisions.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Patrick Shaw 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>Two experts in higher education policy explain the high hurdles that must be cleared to use bankruptcy to escape crushing student loan debt.Brent Evans, Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Higher Education, Vanderbilt UniversityMatthew Patrick Shaw, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Education, and Law, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1301692020-01-23T13:52:18Z2020-01-23T13:52:18ZAfrican Americans take on more debt for grad school – but the payoff is also bigger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311186/original/file-20200121-117954-1y8u5xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">African Americans take on greater debt than whites to earn an advanced degree. Does the payoff make it worth it?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/upset-african-american-female-sitting-kitchen-1100063888">Damir Khabirov/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When seeking graduate and professional degrees, African Americans take on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0038040719876245">over 50% more debt</a> than white students. On the upside, African Americans also see a bigger payoff to earning such degrees. Whether or not that payoff is enough to make up for the additional debt burden is unclear.</p>
<p>These are some key takeaways from a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0038040719876245">study</a> we released in January 2020 in the journal Sociology of Education that examined graduate school debt. We are researchers who study issues of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EzoNzxAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">inequality</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WT0vZX4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">disadvantage</a> in education.</p>
<p>Our findings come at a time when there is an <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/24/18677785/democrats-free-college-sanders-warren-biden">ongoing public debate</a> about whether higher education is worth the cost. We believe these debates represent a paradox for African Americans who are seeking education beyond a bachelor’s degree. On the one hand, graduate school enables African Americans to climb into higher income brackets. But this upward economic mobility comes at a steep upfront financial cost.</p>
<h2>Large differences found</h2>
<p>For 2016, we estimate that the average white graduate student borrowed about US$28,000 while an average African American graduate student took out $43,000 to pay for their education, even when they had comparable levels of parent income, education and other resources important for educational attainment.</p>
<p>We found that African American graduates with an advanced degree had higher pay increases than their white peers – but not necessarily higher pay.</p>
<p>While a 2016 master’s degree graduate who is white could expect an 18% bump in earnings for their degree, African American master’s degree graduates could expect around a 30% bump in earnings compared to having a bachelor’s degree alone, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0038040719876245">our study</a>. </p>
<p>Among doctoral degree holders, white graduates could expect around a 55% bump compared to a 65% increase in earnings for African Americans with doctoral degrees. </p>
<p>Among those with professional degrees – needed to become, say, an eye doctor or a lawyer – white graduates earned 120% more than their bachelor’s degree counterparts who were also white. By comparison, African American graduates earned 142% more than those with a bachelor’s degree who are African American. </p>
<p>It may be tempting to conclude that African American students should aim for an advanced degree. But the reality is more complicated than that. That extra bump African American advanced degree earners get simply puts their pay close to that of their white peers with the same degree. African American advanced degree holders are not typically making more than their white peers, even though they borrow much more to earn those degrees.</p>
<p>Let’s take the case of average white and African American advance degree graduates with identical incomes and identical monthly student loan payment amounts of $300. Given a constant 6% interest rate compounded monthly, it would take the average white student just over 10 years to pay off the principal and interest of their $28,000 in student loans. By contrast, it would take the average African American student 21 years to pay off the principal and interest of their $43,000 in student loans with the same $300 rate.</p>
<p>For these reasons, taking on large amounts of student debt may perpetuate racial inequalities across generations. For instance, debt can make it more difficult for highly educated African American parents to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2332649218790989%22">support their own children’s educational aspirations</a>. If a person who has a child right after graduate school invested $300 per month to their child’s college fund versus paying off their own student debt, with a 4% rate of return they could expect to have roughly $44,000 toward their child’s college education in 10 years.</p>
<h2>The bigger picture</h2>
<p>With student debt nearing <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/02/25/student-loan-debt-statistics-2019/#8ada29133fb5">$1.6 trillion dollars</a> nationally, people worry that student debt is <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvqw3x/what-a-student-loan-bubble-bursting-might-look-like">the next financial bubble</a> that could <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/04/we-should-all-be-concerned-about-the-student-debt-crisis.html">topple the U.S. economy</a>. They also worry that student loans may be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/military-enlistment.html">financially crushing an entire generation</a>.</p>
<p>But our research suggests that when it comes to the nation’s $1.6 trillion student debt problem, it pays to look beyond just student loans for four-year degrees. We found that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038040719876245">nearly half the nation’s student debt</a> is held by households where at least one member has an advanced degree. These are households that typically enjoy relatively high incomes. </p>
<p>For that reason, any talk about student loan debt should take into account the debt held not just by people with four-year degrees. If disparities in student loan debt are going to be addressed, they must be addressed among people who hold graduate degrees, too.</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/130169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>African American students are taking on significantly more debt than white students to earn advanced degrees. Is it worth it?Jaymes Pyne, Quantitative Research Associate, Stanford UniversityEric Grodsky, Professor, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1244682019-11-05T12:16:03Z2019-11-05T12:16:03ZBefore you decide to work in college, ask yourself these questions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299056/original/file-20191028-113998-52jfp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Working in college helps pay the bills, but working too many hours can bring some ill effects, research shows.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-thoughtful-young-afro-american-international-619082495?src=OA1VFa9Cwr6SRq90nTZVpA-3-10">GaudiLab</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many undergraduates, working for pay during the academic year is a necessary part of the college experience. If they don’t work while enrolled, they may not have the money needed to pay tuition and other fees, keep a roof over their head or buy things like books and food. But, working – especially working many hours per week – can be stressful and can harm academic performance and progress.</p>
<p>About <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ssa.asp">two out of every five</a> (43%) undergraduates who are enrolled full-time work while they are also enrolled. Among undergraduates who are enrolled in college part-time, four out of five (81%) work. Among those who work, nearly two-thirds (63%) of full-time students – and 88% of part-time students – worked <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ssa.asp">more than 20 hours per week</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>As scholars who have studied <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ895382">working college students</a>, we raise a series of questions that college students should ask themselves to help minimize the costs, and maximize the potential benefits, of working.</p>
<h2>1. How much does college cost?</h2>
<p>To understand the role of work in paying college costs, it is essential to have an accurate picture of how much it actually costs to attend.</p>
<p>A key concept to understand is the “net price.” The federal government defines net price as the total <a href="https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/costatt.htm">cost of attendance</a> minus any grants and scholarships. The net price is an estimate of total out-of-pocket expenses for one year. So, if your tuition, rent, food, books, supplies, transportation and other expenses total US$20,000 for one academic year, and you have $7,000 in scholarships and grants, then your net price is $13,000.</p>
<p>Just because a college provides a net price does not mean it is accurate. Research shows that some colleges and universities provide <a href="https://ahead-penn.org/research-projects/questioning-calculations">incomplete, confusing and inaccurate information</a> in their net price calculators and <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/policy-papers/decoding-cost-college/">financial aid offer letters</a>. A net price calculator is an online device that colleges are supposed to have on their websites to help students figure out how much they will have to pay if they attend, before they apply for admission. You can search for a college’s net price calculator <a href="https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price">here</a>.</p>
<p>Some colleges may include income from a <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/work-study">Federal Work-Study</a> job in your financial aid package. However, these funds are received only if you obtain an eligible job and meet employment responsibilities. Contact your institution if you have questions about what your actual financial aid award and out-of-pocket costs will be.</p>
<h2>2. How much can I expect to earn?</h2>
<p>Do the math. If you work 20 hours per week at the federal minimum wage ($7.25) during the academic year – and 40 hours per week during the other 20 weeks of a calendar year – you earn $10,440 before taxes. The College Board reports that, in 2018-19, after considering grants and tax benefits, the <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/average-net-price-sector-over-time.pdf">average</a> net tuition, fee, room and board cost was $8,270 at public two-year colleges and $14,800 at public four-year colleges. These amounts do not account for books, supplies, clothes, phone bills or other expenses that might arise. Working can help cover some of your expenses, but it is unlikely that you can “<a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/workinglearners/">work your way through college</a>” without also taking on student loans or obtaining other sources of financial support.</p>
<h2>3. How many hours should I work?</h2>
<p>Research shows that about <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ895382">10 to 20 hours per week</a> is the sweet spot when it comes to working in college. Students who work 10 to 20 hours per week tend to have <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ895382">better outcomes</a>, including <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/learnandearn/#full-report">higher grades</a> and more educational engagement, such as <a href="https://naspa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2202/1949-6605.2011#.XbiNNZNKjzs">interacting with faculty</a>, than students who do not work and students who work more than 20 hours per week. </p>
<p>Although few studies demonstrate that working causes particular outcomes, working more than 20 hours per week during the academic year has been shown to have <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED515052">harmful consequences</a>, as explained below.</p>
<h2>4. What are the costs of working?</h2>
<p>Time spent at work means less time to study and socialize. Working a high number of hours per week is associated with <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/345565">lower grades</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-017-9458-y">lower likelihood of staying enrolled</a>. Working can also be <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED515052">stressful</a>, especially for students who also have family-related responsibilities. </p>
<p>To accommodate work, you may need to take <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775714000363">fewer classes per semester</a> or switch to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775713001544?via%3Dihub">part-time status</a>. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-015-9401-z">Taking fewer classes or becoming a part-time student</a> can increase the time it takes to graduate and reduce the chances of completing a degree.</p>
<p>Working can also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00221546.2016.1271696">reduce the amount of grants you are eligible to receive</a> depending on how much money you earn. You can use the <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/estimate">FAFSA4caster</a> to explore how different amounts of earnings from work influence eligibility for Pell Grants – money that does not have to be earned or repaid and is awarded to students based on financial need.</p>
<h2>5. How can I get the most out of working?</h2>
<p>Not all jobs are the same. One study found that students who had a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775715000825">Federal Work-Study</a> job were five percentage points more likely to graduate within six years than students working non-Work-Study jobs. Jobs that are on or near campus may require less time away from campus than off-campus jobs since you do not have to leave campus – or go far – to get to work. On-campus jobs – including Federal Work-Study positions – may also have more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/7UCU-8F9M-94QG-5WWQ">flexible schedules</a> and include an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2202/1949-6605.1108">academic component</a> that complements coursework.</p>
<p>Try to obtain a job that is related to your major field of study or career interest. Any job can build general job-related skills, but some jobs are more directly related to future employment than others. Jobs that are <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/learnandearn/#full-report">related to your major or intended career</a> may help build networks and other skills that lead to better jobs after completing college.</p>
<h2>6. What can I do to work less?</h2>
<p>First, complete all financial aid applications, such as the <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa">FAFSA</a>, before their deadlines. Second, find out whether your <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/workinglearners/">employer</a> offers any program to reimburse some portion of your tuition and fees. Third, if you are worried about borrowing, learn more about the characteristics of federal student loans and <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans">repayment options</a>. Avoid other sources of credit like credit cards and private loans. <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/federal-vs-private">Private loans</a> may have lower consumer protections, fewer payment options and potentially higher interest rates.</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/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend.</a> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>Working in college may help students pay the bills, but putting in long hours can come at a cost, research shows. A scholar discusses what college students should consider before taking a job.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaTaylor K. Odle, Ph.D. Student & Research Fellow, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1183882019-08-26T13:40:14Z2019-08-26T13:40:14ZThese college rankings focus on schools that help students get ahead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289129/original/file-20190822-170910-13k85vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=403%2C986%2C5122%2C2316&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some college rankings focus on how students fare after graduation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/education-graduation-people-concept-group-happy-759772861">Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=171&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287050/original/file-20190806-84240-i26yzq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>The Abstract features interesting research and the people behind it.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Robert Kelchen, a scholar of higher education, oversees the college rankings at Washington Monthly. The magazine’s rankings are meant to provide an alternative to the more popular college rankings put out each year by U.S. News & World Report.</strong></p>
<p><em>When was the first time you encountered the U.S. News college rankings?</em></p>
<p><strong>Robert Kelchen:</strong> I was a graduate student in the late 2000s and started to pay closer attention to how higher education worked. I became fascinated with how colleges would send out celebratory press releases whenever they rose in the U.S. News rankings and then either ignore or criticize the rankings in the following year.</p>
<p><em>Why did you decide to study these rankings?</em></p>
<p><strong>Kelchen:</strong> As a graduate student thinking about dissertation topics, I was interested in learning about how college rankings developed. The U.S. News rankings were (and still are) the <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Ever-Growing-World-of/190437">best-known</a> set of rankings out there, but I was frustrated by how colleges could move up in the U.S. News rankings simply by <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings">spending more money</a>. This led me to write a chapter <a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/1413311777">of my dissertation</a> about what college rankings would look like if they took both graduation rates and the cost of providing the education into account. The editorial team at Washington Monthly heard about my research in 2012, and invited me to take over the role of putting together the rankings. I have been responsible for the rankings ever since.</p>
<p><em>3. What distinguishes your college rankings from the U.S. News college rankings?</em></p>
<p><strong>Kelchen:</strong> The U.S. News rankings <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings">place a lot of weight</a> on selectivity, prestige and how much money colleges have. The Washington Monthly rankings give equal weight to a college’s performance on measures of what is known as social mobility, research and national and community service among students.</p>
<p><em>4. How you determine if a college is fostering upward mobility?</em></p>
<p><strong>Kelchen:</strong> Social mobility, or helping students move up the social and economic ladders, is one of the key goals of American higher education. There are enormous gaps in college graduation rates by both <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/10/25/a-look-at-pell-grant-recipients-graduation-rates/">family income and race/ethnicity</a>. These gaps are important to close because students who earn a college degree <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99078/evaluating_the_return_on_investment_in_higher_education.pdf">tend to do much better in life</a> than those who do not.</p>
<p>We look at a college’s contribution to social mobility in a number of ways. We look at whether an institution does a good job both enrolling and graduating students from lower-income families or who are the first in their family to go to college. We look at whether students are able to repay their loans, and also how affordable a college is for an individual student after all grants and scholarships are provided.</p>
<p><em>5. What other outputs do your rankings measure?</em></p>
<p><strong>Kelchen:</strong> We also consider how well colleges perform on research and service. Our primary research measures are the number of students who go on to earn Ph.D.s and the amount of research spending on campus, with research-focused universities also being ranked based on the share of award-winning faculty and the number of Ph.D.s they award. For service, we look at the share of students involved in the Peace Corps and the ROTC branches, and whether colleges use federal work-study funds to support community service.</p>
<p><em>6. Do you ever think the college rankings you oversee will become more popular than the U.S. News college rankings?</em></p>
<p><strong>Kelchen:</strong> It’s a harder sell to get status-conscious families to look at colleges that aren’t considered elite but actually do a better job of educating the students they have. If U.S. News evolved to a point where the Washington Monthly rankings were unnecessary, I would be a happy camper. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Until then, we will keep putting out the rankings every year, with the 2019 rankings being released on the <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/">Washington Monthly website</a> on Aug. 26.</p>
<p><strong>The Washington Monthly College Rankings is supported by funding from the Lumina Foundation, which is also a funder of The Conversation.</strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Kelchen is the data editor for Washington Monthly magazine's annual college rankings.</span></em></p>A higher education scholar explains how he came to oversee a set of college rankings meant to take a different tact than the more popular rankings from US News & World Report.Robert Kelchen, Associate Professor of Higher Education, Seton Hall UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1177342019-07-12T12:05:10Z2019-07-12T12:05:10ZCould black philanthropy help solve the black student debt crisis?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278543/original/file-20190607-52767-aki5jk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Left: Robert Smith. Right (clockwise from left): Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Jay-Z, LeBron James and Nicki Minaj.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters, USA Today</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When billionaire Robert E. Smith decided to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/us/morehouse-robert-smith-student-loans-trnd/index.html">pay off the student loans</a> of the graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College, he suggested that others follow his lead.</p>
<p>“Let’s make sure every class has the same opportunity going forward, because we are enough to take care of our own community,” Smith declared in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P1CcRphVnM">commencement speech</a>.</p>
<p>But is there even enough black private wealth in the United States to pay off all black student loan debt? </p>
<p>As a scholar in <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mako_Fitts_Ward">social transformation and African American studies</a>, I’m intrigued by this question. It provides an opportunity to examine black wealth, higher education and the possibilities for alleviating debt, which in turn opens the door to new economic opportunities.</p>
<h2>Black celebrities give to higher education</h2>
<p>Smith’s gift is estimated to be <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/colinseale/2019/05/28/40-million-for-400-students-morehouse-donation-highlights-an-inequitable-new-normal/#31f4447b1bc3">worth US$40 million and will benefit 396 students</a>. </p>
<p>That’s a lot of money, and he’s done it before. Before his gift to Morehouse, Smith donated <a href="http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/01/robert-f-smith-gives-50m-engineering-cornell-tech">$50 million to Cornell University</a>, his alma mater, in part to support African American and female students at Cornell University’s College of Engineering.</p>
<p>Other black celebrities have also stepped up to fund education. Powerhouse couple <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beyonce-and-jay-z-through-the-beygood-initiative-and-the-shawn-carter-foundation-announce-a-new-scholarship-program-to-award-one-exceptional-senior-high-school-student-with-financial-needs-in-us-markets-on-their-otrii-tour-300702407.html">Beyonce and Jay Z</a> gave more than $1 million in scholarships to students who lived in cities they were touring in 2018.</p>
<p>Rapper <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8463821/nicki-minaj-awards-37-college-students-scholarship">Nicki Minaj</a> gave 37 “Student of the Game” scholarships. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-james-college-scholarship-school-cost-100-million-2018-7">LeBron James</a>, through his foundation, promised to pay for 2,300 students to attend the University of Akron – at an estimated price tag of $100 million. <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/glitzy-giving/oprah-winfrey.html">Oprah Winfrey</a> has donated more than $400 million to educational causes.</p>
<p>But with just five <a href="https://www.blackenterprise.com/jay-z-net-worth-black-billionaire-list/">black billionaires in the United States</a> – Smith, Winfrey, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/david-steward/#3804af1a5626">David Steward</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/03/28/michael-jordan-adds-350-million-to-fortune-net-worth-now-1-65-billion/#2e9528a62848">Michael Jordan</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2019/06/03/jay-z-billionaire-worth/#7c95c8533a5f">Jay-Z</a> – monumental gifts like the one that Smith made will likely be few and far between. </p>
<p>Is Smith’s claim that “we are enough to take care of our own community” true of all the black wealth in the U.S.?</p>
<h2>Philanthropy among African Americans</h2>
<p>A strong <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pf.41219950803">heritage of black philanthropy</a> dates back to <a href="http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/community/text5/text5read.htm">mutual aid societies</a> of the 1700s and 1800s in which free blacks sought to help fellow blacks facing hardships or distress and, in later years, in need of education and job training. </p>
<p>Black charitable giving also arose from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/ijea.2010.20">the black church</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pf.41219950803">fraternal organizations</a> throughout the 1800s and 1900s with movements such as abolitionism, the <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/black-womens-club-movement">Black Women’s Club Movement</a> and the civil rights movement.</p>
<p>Mary Church Terrell, the first president of the National Association of Colored Women, described how charitable organizations had “a keen sense of the responsibility” to secure economic and educational resources, “lifting as we climb” up the ladder of social mobility. This ethic of giving was also present among the early black economic elite such as <a href="https://blackthen.com/thomy-lafon-shrewd-businessman-philanthropist/">Thomy Lafon</a>, <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/madam-cj-walker">Madame C.J. Walker</a> and <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/historians-and-chronicles/historians-miscellaneous-biographies/james-forten">James Forten</a>.</p>
<p>Black giving remains <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/despite-racial-wealth-gap-black-philanthropy-strong">strong</a> to this day. Despite <a href="https://socialequity.duke.edu/sites/socialequity.duke.edu/files/site-images/FINAL%20COMPLETE%20REPORT_.pdf">racial wealth gaps</a>, black families <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/despite-racial-wealth-gap-black-philanthropy-strong">contribute larger portions of their wealth</a> than any other racial and ethnic group. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation reports that <a href="http://www.d5coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CultureofGiving.pdf">two-thirds of all black households</a> donate to charitable causes. This giving amounts to about $11 billion annually, most of which goes to religious organizations. </p>
<p>But how much of it goes to higher education? African Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum <a href="http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Diversity-in-Giving-Study-FINAL.pdf">report</a> donating 17% to education – both K-12 and post-secondary institutions and scholarship funds. That adds up to about $1.8 billion donated annually. </p>
<h2>Counting black millionaires</h2>
<p>The percentage of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/03/white-families-are-twice-as-likely-to-be-millionaires-as-a-generation-ago/?utm_term=.ada3d92ac0e5">black households worth over $1 million</a> has remained at or below 2% since 1992, or about 877,000 based on <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/IPE120217">2018 population estimates</a>. </p>
<p>Among black high net worth households – those with a net worth of more than $1 million (not counting the value of their primary home) or with an annual household income of $200,000 – <a href="https://www.privatebank.bankofamerica.com/publish/content/application/pdf/GWMOL/USTp_ARMCGDN7_oct_2017.pdf">49%</a> report giving to higher education. This is significant since across all racial groups, the <a href="https://mlaem.fs.ml.com/content/dam/ML/Articles/pdf/2018-US-Trust-Study-of-High-Net-Worth-Philanthropy-Final-Report-ARLMGDN5-102418.pdf">share of dollars</a> donated by high net worth individuals to higher education was only 4%. </p>
<h2>Black student loan debt</h2>
<p>Student loan debt in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2019, making it the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/02/25/student-loan-debt-statistics-2019/#60513566133f">second-highest consumer debt</a> category behind mortgage debt. Over 44 million borrowers owe roughly $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. </p>
<p>Looking at 2016 data, <a href="https://1xfsu31b52d33idlp13twtos-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Race-and-Ethnicity-in-Higher-Education.pdf">86.4% of blacks</a> completing a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_322.20.asp">bachelor’s degree</a> had some form of student loan debt, and the <a href="https://1xfsu31b52d33idlp13twtos-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Race-and-Ethnicity-in-Higher-Education.pdf">average amount borrowed</a> was $34,010. If we multiply the total number of blacks that graduated with some form of debt – roughly 168,000 – by the average amount borrowed per individual, the average cumulative debt for this one graduating class was roughly $5.7 billion. This includes graduates from all colleges – public as well as private – but not community colleges.</p>
<p>Of course, looking at it at the most basic level, the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2019/03/05/the-black-billionaires-2019/#5414cec56795">collective wealth</a> among America’s black billionaires – which totals $13.4 billion with the recent addition of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2019/06/03/jay-z-billionaire-worth/#281687fa3a5f">Jay-Z</a> – can easily subsidize the debt of a single graduating class. </p>
<p>And while a more sophisticated calculation is undoubtedly warranted, a rough estimate shows that the $5.7 billion in black student debt could be covered by America’s black millionaire households if each one chose to devote $6,500 toward eliminating the overall debt.</p>
<p>Of course, the debt load for black students goes far beyond one graduating class. The majority of <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/rising-educational-attainment-among-blacks-or-african-americans-in-the-labor-force-1992-to-2018.htm">blacks in the labor force that hold a bachelor’s degree or higher</a> have some form of student loan debt. This means that the figures for the entire black population with outstanding student loan debt across generations are significantly higher than $5.7 billion.</p>
<p>Robert Smith’s gift to the class of 2019 at Morehouse provoked an interesting discussion about whether black philanthropy can alleviate black student loan debt. However, one-off philanthropic efforts that help a small group of beneficiaries can’t compete with the kind of large-scale change needed to alter the course of an entire community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mako Fitts Ward 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>A recent gift by billionaire Robert Smith to pay off the student loans of 2019 graduates of Morehouse points to the potential of America’s black elite to pay off all black students’ college loans.Mako Fitts Ward, Clinical Assistant Professor, African and African American Studies & Women and Gender Studies, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1152152019-04-23T10:44:42Z2019-04-23T10:44:42ZWhy federal student aid should be restored for people in prison<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270287/original/file-20190422-28087-17zavgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows prison education lessens the chances that inmates will return to prison after their release.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/College-Behind-Bars/3541c4fc32b34dc5be2908b140d1158b/82/0">Elaine Thompson/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Congress is thinking of lifting a longstanding <a href="https://genprogress.org/its-time-to-lift-the-ban-on-pell-grants-for-prisoners/">ban</a> on federal student aid for those serving time in prison.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2168/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22REAL+Act%22%5D%7D&r=2&s=1">“Restoring Education And Learning Act of 2019,”</a> or the “REAL Act of 2019,” seeks to reinstate federal Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals. <a href="https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/grants-and-scholarships/what-is-a-pell-grant">Pell Grants</a> are federal grants meant to help students who need money to go to college.</p>
<p>If Pell Grants were reinstated for those serving time, about <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/investing-in-futures-education-in-prison/legacy_downloads/investing-in-futures.pdf">463,000 people in prison</a> would become eligible for the grants.</p>
<p>As director of the University of Baltimore’s <a href="http://www.ubalt.edu/cpa/about-the-college/community-engagement/second-chance-college-program.cfm">Second Chance College Program</a>, I can attest to how such an investment will yield benefits not only for individuals behind prison walls, but for society as a whole.</p>
<p>Here are four reasons to support the reinstatement of the Pell Grant for incarcerated people.</p>
<h2>1. Saves taxpayers money</h2>
<p>Investing in prison education programs will save states money in the long run. </p>
<p>Research has found that when people get education in prison, they are <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html">less likely to be incarcerated again</a>. This means that overall, less money would be spent on their time in prison. </p>
<p>Although the amount varies by state, incarcerating one person costs taxpayers <a href="https://www.vera.org/publications/price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends">US$15,000 to $70,000 per year</a>. In the federal system the cost for each prisoner is around <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/04/30/2018-09062/annual-determination-of-average-cost-of-incarceration">$35,000 a year</a>.</p>
<p>One study found that, over a three-year period, correctional education can save taxpayers <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html">$5 for every $1 spent</a>. An argument could also be made that prison education makes communities safer, since people who participate in post-secondary education in prison are <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR200/RR266/RAND_RR266.sum.pdf">43% less likely</a> to commit another crime.</p>
<h2>2. Improves employment opportunities</h2>
<p>People who participate in academic or vocational programs while in prison are <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html">more likely to find work</a> when released. They are also <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html">more likely to earn more</a>.</p>
<p>Second Chance Pell programs are required to help prepare participants for the jobs for which they are eligible. For instance, there are thousands of <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/barriers-to-work-individuals-with-criminal-records.aspx">employment barriers and licensing restrictions</a> for people with criminal records.</p>
<p>Prison education programs offered through the U.S. Department of Education’s <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/12000-incarcerated-students-enroll-postsecondary-educational-and-training-programs-through-education-departments-new-second-chance-pell-pilot-program">Second Chance Pell pilot program</a> help prepare participants for high-demand fields. These include certificates or degrees in substance abuse counseling, business administration, horticulture, carpentry, heating and air conditioning, and other fields. </p>
<p>Some programs offer entrepreneurship certificates or degrees to prepare students to create their own business. Others, such as the <a href="https://bpi.bard.edu/">Bard Prison Initiative</a>, offer associate and bachelor degrees in liberal arts education. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2018EmployerResearchReport.pdf">A liberal education can build</a> skills often desired by employers such as critical thinking, ability to work in teams, ethical judgment, self-motivation and strong writing skills.</p>
<h2>3. Strengthens families</h2>
<p>Children of the incarcerated suffer greatly while their parents are behind bars. They experience a range of issues such as emotional and behavioral problems, do poorly in school, and are <a href="https://www.nij.gov/journals/278/Pages/impact-of-incarceration-on-dependent-children.aspx">six times more likely to end up in prison themselves</a>. </p>
<p>One way to less the potential for these negative effects is to increase the opportunities for their parents once they return home. </p>
<p>Ensuring that parents are successful and can maintain strong social bonds with their children could potentially disrupt the <a href="http://ssa.uchicago.edu/breaking-cycle-family-focused-approach-criminal-sentencing-illinois">generational cycle of crime and incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>Educating parents in prison also increases the chances that their children will attain higher levels of education. Research has found that children are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/are-college-degrees-inherited/360532/">more likely to enroll and complete college</a> when their parents are college-educated.</p>
<p>During the first year and a half of the <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/12000-incarcerated-students-enroll-postsecondary-educational-and-training-programs-through-education-departments-new-second-chance-pell-pilot-program">Second Chance Pell pilot program</a>, <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/second-chance-pell-experimental-sites-initiative-update/legacy_downloads/Second-Chance-Pell-Fact-Sheet-June-2018.pdf">954 credentials</a> have been awarded.</p>
<h2>4. Won’t take away money for other students</h2>
<p>Despite the many benefits of removing the ban on Pell Grants, there are critics who believe <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/pell-grants-prisioners-obama-administration-120850">“criminals” should not get a “free education” at the expense of taxpayers</a>.</p>
<p>As I argue in the book “<a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/education-for-liberation-the-politics-of-promise-and-reform-inside-and-beyond-americas-prisons/">Education for Liberation: The Politics of Promise and Reform Inside and Beyond America’s Prisons</a>,” awarding Pell to incarcerated students does not take away funds from low-income students in the community.</p>
<p>Students get Pell Grants based on their income. So no one will be denied a Pell Grant simply because someone in prison got one. Restoring Pell Grants for people in prison simply means more federal money being spent on the Pell Grant program.</p>
<p>In 2017-18, the Pell Grant supported <a href="https://trends.collegeboard.org/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-total-expenditures-maximum-and-average-grant-and-number-recipients-over-time">7 million students with $28.2 billion</a>.</p>
<p>If Pell Grants are restored to people in prison, those numbers would rise to about 7.5 million students and $30.9 billion, respectively.</p>
<p>This extra $2.7 billion is a worthy investment for a safer community where everyone has a chance to make a living.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Cantora 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>For people in prison to have a better chance at earning a living upon release, Congress should lift a longstanding ban on federal student aid for those serving time, a criminal justice scholar argues.Andrea Cantora, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of BaltimoreLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1141462019-03-28T10:40:24Z2019-03-28T10:40:24ZNet price calculators were supposed to make it easier to understand the cost of college – instead, many are making it more difficult<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265395/original/file-20190322-36244-1bdszbv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research uncovers problems with a 'calculator' that colleges must put online to make it easier for prospective students to understand the cost of college.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-african-american-man-on-laptop-1029688297">Tina Gutierrez from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/resource-center-net-price">since 2011</a>, colleges that get federal student aid have been required to post <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/resource-center-net-price#Template">net price calculators</a> on their websites. These calculators are supposed to help prospective students understand – before they apply – how much it will cost to attend a particular school.</p>
<p>But in a <a href="https://www.ahead-penn.org/research-projects/questioning-net-price-calculators">new study</a>, we found that not all colleges and universities have a net price calculator that is easy to find or that consistently works. We were able to navigate from an institution’s home page to the net price calculator for 88 percent of the 80 institutions in our study. Despite repeated efforts, we were unable to find a net price calculator on the websites of two institutions. For five other institutions, the link to the calculator did not consistently work.</p>
<p>Perhaps more worrisome – we also found that at least a third of the colleges and universities in our study are presenting information in ways that may mislead students and families about what they should expect to pay if they attend a given school. </p>
<p>One of us is a scholar who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MpiZLOEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">how students decide to enroll in college</a>, while the other looks at issues of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ecTgyEUAAAAJ&hl=en">college finance</a>. </p>
<p>For this study, we examined the websites of 80 public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions where at least one out of every four students receives a <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/pell">Pell grant</a>, which are grants for students with exceptional financial need. The schools in our study all are classified by Barron’s as having “competitive” admissions – they are not the nation’s “most,” “highly” or “very” competitive. “Competitive” institutions admit many but not all applicants, and include large state universities as well as private liberal arts colleges. </p>
<h2>Cost distortion</h2>
<p>Our study shows the persistence of problematic findings documented in <a href="https://ticas.org/net-price-calculator-publications-and-resources">an earlier study</a>. For example, despite repeated efforts, we were unable to find a net price calculator on the websites of two institutions. For five other institutions, the link to the calculator did not consistently work.</p>
<p>Among net price calculators that we could find and that did work, our study found no shortage of examples of misleading presentations of the expected cost of attendance. About 40 percent of the schools in our study provided estimates using data that were three or four years old, ignoring the reality that tuition and other costs typically increase each year. Some schools emphasized an out-of-pocket cost that includes only the costs of tuition and fees and room and board, even though going to college comes with other costs, including books. Other institutions showed that both grants and loans will reduce out of pocket costs without making it clear that – unlike grants – loans have to be paid back. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266124/original/file-20190327-139371-1fs9vy4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example of net price calculator output for institution emphasizing out-of-pocket costs after loans and ignoring indirect costs, such as books and personal expenses.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The U.S. Department charges institutions with monitoring <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/resource-center-net-price">their own compliance</a> with the law. The lack of attention to compliance with the law – as well as the use of other misleading and confusing practices – can have important implications. Students who think a school costs too much, or that they won’t get enough grant aid, may end up bypassing schools they can actually afford. And students who underestimate how much it costs to go to a particular school may become get sidetracked if they enroll but end up not having the financial resources they need to pay the actual costs.</p>
<p>We don’t know if colleges and universities are using these misleading calculators on purpose or out of negligence. But whatever the case may be, colleges can make some simple changes to the net price calculators that will help prospective students more easily understand and compare cost estimates across colleges and universities.</p>
<h2>Simple fixes</h2>
<p>First, all colleges and universities should have a net price calculator that is easy to find and that consistently works. The output from the net price calculator should highlight only one net price. The highlighted net price should meet the <a href="https://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/">federal government’s definition</a>, which is cost of attendance minus grants and scholarships. It should also include all costs of attendance, and use data for the current or prior year. The net price calculator should specify the types of grants students may be eligible to receive – and tell students what they need to do to receive them. And it should make clear that, unlike grants, loans need to be repaid with interest. Providing students with estimates of the aid they may expect is the purpose of the net price calculator. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266125/original/file-20190327-139368-opm5jr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Example NPC output that includes all cost, disaggregates aid and calculates one net price.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To be useful to all students, net price calculators should provide estimates that reflect a student’s circumstances and choices. The estimates should be dynamic so that they can show the costs and aid for all kinds of students, such as those who are financially independent and are not U.S. citizens. The calculators should also tell students if costs vary based on major, residence hall or meal plan. Schools should also make it easy for students to get answers to their questions.</p>
<p>Federal policymakers should also take action to address these issues. Bipartisan legislation proposed March 27 by members of the U.S. House and Senate – formally known as the <a href="https://cummings.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cummings-guthrie-introduce-legislation-make-college-costs-more">Net Price Calculator Improvement Act</a> – would take steps toward addressing problems found in this study.</p>
<p>Among other things, the proposed bill would require colleges to place their calculators on webpages “where students and families are likely to look for cost and admissions information.” It would also authorize the U.S. Department of Education to develop a “universal calculator” that would allow students “to answer one set of financial and academic questions” and receive a list of net prices that could be readily compared. It also implies the importance of understanding the best ways to communicate information about college costs to students from low-income families. More specifically, it would “require the Department of Education to submit a report on the steps the Department has taken to raise awareness of Net Price Calculators.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by a grant from Lumina Foundation. Findings and opinions are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of the funder. Laura Perna is James S. Riepe Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education (Penn AHEAD). She is also a member of the Board of the Postsecondary National Policy Institute (PNPI).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Wright-Kim 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>While net price calculators are meant to help students figure out how much a particular college will cost, a new study reveals that many colleges’ calculators distort the true cost of attendance.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaJeremy Wright-Kim, PhD Student, Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed 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>
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<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">
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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/1004962018-07-26T10:37:13Z2018-07-26T10:37:13ZWhy the Democrats’ new ‘debt-free’ college plan won’t really make college debt-free<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229322/original/file-20180725-194149-7a03f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new 'debt-free' college plan has little chance of success.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-female-graduate-her-cap-gown-52951918?src=PV10htINOD_zTnMMdWAQ0A-1-22">ARENA Creative/www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rising student loan debt and concerns about college affordability got considerable attention from Democrats in the 2016 presidential campaign. Those issues are bound to get renewed attention since House Democrats recently introduced <a href="http://democrats-edworkforce.house.gov/aim-higher">the Aim Higher Act</a> – an effort to update the Higher Education Act, the federal law that governs federal higher education programs.</p>
<p>The bill promises “debt-free” college to students. As scholars who focus on <a href="https://robertkelchen.com/">higher education finance</a> and <a href="https://denniskramerii.com">student aid</a>, we believe the bill actually falls well short of that promise.</p>
<h2>What ‘free’ really means</h2>
<p>In its current form, the bill guarantees two years of tuition-free community college to students. However, the Democratic bill does not address the fact that tuition is only about <a href="http://perspectives.acct.org/stories/cost-of-attending-community-college">one-fifth of the total cost of attending community college</a>. Rent, food, books and transportation make up the rest of the cost of attendance and are not covered by this plan.</p>
<p>The “debt-free” label is problematic for other reasons. For instance, the maximum Pell Grant – <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/aid-glance-2018-19.pdf">US$6,095 for the 2018-2019 school year</a> – already covers community college tuition in nearly all states. This means the neediest students likely already have access to federal grant funds to cover tuition. Although the bill would increase Pell awards by $500 each year and reduce debt somewhat for the neediest students, many needy students will still need to take out loans to attend college. </p>
<h2>States may not cooperate</h2>
<p>Another reason the Democrats’ “debt-free” college plan does not live up to its name is the fact that its tuition-free provision requires states to maintain their funding for public colleges in order qualify for more federal funds under the proposed bill. This approach is similar to the state-federal partnership that was part of the recent Medicaid expansion, which led 16 conservative states to <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/state-activity-around-expanding-medicaid-under-the-affordable-care-act/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D">decline to expand Medicaid</a>. Many conservative-leaning states might push back against the Aim Higher Act’s tuition-free provision because it restricts states’ ability to cut higher education spending.</p>
<h2>Slim chance of becoming law</h2>
<p>It is unlikely that either the PROSPER Act or the Aim Higher Act become law in the near future given the lack of comprehensive support within the Republican Party and Democrats’ minority status in Congress. But there are a few parts of both bills that could get bipartisan support, such as simplifying the process for applying for federal financial aid, creating better data systems to help track students’ outcomes, and allowing Pell Grants to be used for shorter-term training programs. Although neither the Republican nor the Democratic bills appear likely to pass, expect both parties to use their proposals in the upcoming midterm elections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors 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>A closer look at House Democrats new ‘debt-free’ college plan reveals that the plan fails to live up to its name, two higher education finance scholars argue.Robert Kelchen, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Seton Hall UniversityDennis A. Kramer II, Assistant Professor of Education Policy, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/939212018-03-26T10:48:29Z2018-03-26T10:48:29ZNew federal program tackles spiraling costs of college textbooks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211802/original/file-20180324-54872-4bxn5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new $5 million federal program will bring free digital textbooks to students.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-african-american-female-student-group-544680310">Daniel M. Ernst/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>College students will keep more money in their pockets thanks to a new US$5 million <a href="http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20180319/DIV%20H%20LABORHHS%20SOM%20FY18%20OMNI.OCR.pdf">pilot program</a> approved as part of the $1.3 trillion appropriations bill <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/23/trump-threatens-to-veto-omnibus-bill-because-it-does-not-address-daca-recipients/?utm_term=.c7fec08f06e9">that President Donald J. Trump signed</a> on March 23.</p>
<p>The new grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, will support the creation or improved use of open textbooks for use at any college and university. <a href="http://www.openaccesstextbooks.org/model/appendixA.html">Open textbooks</a> are made freely available online by their authors. They can also be changed and combined by instructors who use them in their classes.</p>
<p>The goal of the program is to save students money and potentially transform education. It’s difficult to say how much individual students will save, or how many individual students will save money, because the cost of textbooks vary so much from one discipline to another. Nor is it known how many faculty will participate. But, collectively, based on <a href="https://www.affordablelearninggeorgia.org/about/reports">earlier efforts by state governments</a>, the effort could save students $50 million annually.</p>
<p>As the head of the library at a major U.S. public research university and as a proponent of using technology to improve research and education, I believe this program represents an important step forward to help students financially and academically. Federal endorsement of open textbooks is symbolically important. It also represents a big shot in the arm for the Open Educational Materials movement. However, a one-time grant of $5 million isn’t enough. </p>
<h2>The consequences of unaffordable textbooks</h2>
<p>Over the years, as the cost of higher education has continued to rise, college textbooks have become unaffordable for many students. According to the U.S. Student Public Interest Research Group, since 2006, the cost of a college textbook has <a href="https://studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/covering-cost">risen by 73 percent</a> – over four times the rate of inflation. The federal government’s estimate of the cost increase is even higher: <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/college-tuition-and-fees-increase-63-percent-since-january-2006.htm">88 percent</a>. According to the College Board, students at public four-year universities <a href="https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimated-undergraduate-budgets-2017-18">spend an average of $1,250 on textbooks</a>, and individual textbooks can cost <a href="https://www.aei.org/publication/the-new-era-of-the-400-college-textbook-which-is-part-of-the-unsustainable-higher-education-bubble/">up to $400</a>.</p>
<p>One survey found that 65 percent of students <a href="https://studentpirgs.org/reports/sp/covering-cost">skipped buying a textbook</a> at some point because of cost. A 2017 survey found that 50 percent of students say their decision to put off or skip buying course materials <a href="https://get.vitalsource.com/hubfs/Content/2017%20Wakefield/All%20Wakefield%20Infographics.pdf?hsCtaTracking=ce4cd055-e3fa-419d-8a66-0f38fb7274af%7Ceb83f7fb-9b3a-4eb5-a227-b714bb56a50c">had a negative impact</a> on their grades.</p>
<p>Open textbooks represent an emerging solution to the textbook cost problem. Open textbooks usually have similar content to traditional textbooks but are published online under an open copyright license, so that they can be freely used by students, teachers and the public.</p>
<p>Instead of recovering the cost of writing and publishing a textbook through sales to students, that cost is covered up front from different sources, such as this new pilot program. For that reason, no purchase of the book is necessary – anyone can read it for free. Open textbooks are mainly written by dedicated professors who are concerned about the high cost of textbooks to their students or intrigued with the promise that online ebooks have to improve learning. They write the books for free and publish them in freely available <a href="https://www.oercommons.org/">online platforms</a>.</p>
<h2>The benefits of open textbooks</h2>
<p>Teachers can also freely combine and adapt open textbooks to fit the particular needs of their course without complex and expensive negotiations with publishers. That’s very important to teachers who want the highest quality and most appropriate materials for their class, particularly when they can’t find the perfect off-the-shelf textbook.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/03/29/what-is-oer-5-questions-about-open-oer.html">Open Educational Resources</a> movement isn’t new. Rather, it’s been slowly growing over the past 20 years.</p>
<p>MIT’s <a href="https://ocw.mit.edu/">Open CourseWare Project</a> started in 2001. Programs such as <a href="https://openstax.org/">OpenStax CNX</a> and California State University’s <a href="https://als.csuprojects.org/">Affordable Learning Solutions</a> initiative have made steady progress as well.</p>
<p>Foundations such as the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases/2009/12/Emerging-Technologies-Ready-to-Reshape-Community-Colleges">Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation</a>, the <a href="https://www.hewlett.org/strategy/open-educational-resources/">William and Flora Hewlett Foundation</a> and others have long supported these efforts. (The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a strategic partner of The Conversation US and provides funding for The Conversation internationally.)</p>
<p>Advocacy organizations such as the <a href="https://studentpirgs.org/campaigns/sp/make-textbooks-affordable">U.S. Public Interest Research Group</a> and <a href="https://sparcopen.org/open-education/">SPARC</a> – the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition – have raised awareness with faculty, authors, students, politicians and the public. And it’s not limited to higher education. The movement is gaining support in K-12 education as well, with initiatives like <a href="https://www.curriki.org/">Curriki</a>.</p>
<h2>The role of college libraries</h2>
<p>College and university libraries also help. More specifically, they provide support, advocacy, financial subsidy and technical infrastructure on campuses. They may also <a href="https://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/12/opinion/steven-bell/bookstore-or-college-store-building-a-relationship-from-the-bell-tower/#_">partner with college bookstores</a> and innovative publishers to promote open textbooks alternatives. </p>
<p>For example, university libraries make open textbooks available and market them through course websites and campus bookstores, alongside other course materials that students can buy. Librarians at my university consult with faculty to evaluate course materials and promote open textbooks that are the same quality as books that cost hundreds of dollars. Several libraries in the <a href="http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/scholarly-communication/publishing/affordable/etextbooks%23etextbooks">University of California system</a> provide technology to make open textbooks available online and promote them to students. </p>
<p>Beyond saving students money, open textbooks and other open educational materials provide opportunities for technical innovation and better educational experiences. For instance, instructors might mix and match sections of different textbooks, or change the textbook slightly to fit local needs. The pilot program’s choice of a permissive, nonexclusive copyright license, which requires only credit to the textbook authors, is significant in this regard.</p>
<p>Open licenses like <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">CC-BY</a> are the gold standard in terms of providing clarity on what instructors are allowed to do with these textbooks. These Creative Commons licenses eliminate restrictions on reuse and changes. </p>
<p>Open textbooks also make it easier to introduce dynamic context into the book. For example, instructors may add visualizations of data being discussed or embed interactive problem sets in each section. This ability to adapt an open textbook quickly for rapidly evolving or new academic subjects, like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/metagenomics">metagenomics</a> or data science, makes open textbooks attractive to digital-savvy faculty at institutions like mine.</p>
<h2>Toward greater use of open textbooks</h2>
<p>As one example, at UC Davis, a project to revolutionize chemistry textbooks and make them free to students contributed to <a href="https://libretexts.org/#about">LibreTexts</a>, an innovative online platform that makes expensive and rapidly changing open educational materials available in more dynamic and engaging ways.</p>
<p>Through the new pilot program approved by the Trump administration, the Department of Education will run a competitive grant program to support projects at colleges and universities that create new open textbooks or expand the use of existing ones, like those created under the earlier initiatives described above. But details about how the program will work are not yet available.</p>
<p>For large-scale adoption of open textbooks to succeed, a critical mass of high-quality open textbooks must be available. That is not yet the case. Further, instructors across higher education must <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9">recognize their value</a> and adopt them for their classes.</p>
<p>Government stimulus funds like the $5 million pilot program provide strong motivation for creating open textbooks and validating their use. But permanently solving the problem of ensuring access to affordable, high-quality textbooks will require greater recognition that the high cost of textbooks hurts students, both academically and financially. For that reason, stronger legislation, such as the proposed <a href="https://sparcopen.org/our-work/2017-act-bill/">Affordable College Textbook Act</a>, will be needed to make open textbooks the norm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>MacKenzie Smith 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>While a new $5 million program could help college students save money on textbooks each year, a more permanent solution is needed to the problem of pricey textbooks that students often don’t buy.MacKenzie Smith, University Librarian and Vice Provost for Digital Scholarship, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879162018-01-10T00:04:13Z2018-01-10T00:04:13ZWhy children’s savings accounts should be America’s next wealth transfer program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200967/original/file-20180105-26160-1jpa0vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New special savings and investment accounts could help pave the way to college for America's poor and middle class.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/677445091?src=Mj90lnsRjBBVcfUXxW7Y0g-20-27&size=huge_jpg">Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a time of great wealth <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w18396">inequality</a> and dramatically unequal <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/the-growing-wealth-gap-in-who-earns-college-degrees/479688/">chances</a> between the rich and the poor of getting a college education, there is perhaps no better time for a new wealth transfer initiative.</p>
<p>Great wealth transfers are nothing new. In the 19th century, the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Homestead.html">Homestead Act</a> provided public land to Western settlers. In the 20th century, the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/gi-bill">GI Bill</a> provided tuition benefits to veterans. </p>
<p>As an expert on asset-building and student loan debt, if it were up to me, <a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/OurWork/FinIncl/Pages/ChildDevelopmentAccounts.aspx">children’s savings account programs</a> – a policy innovation springing up around the country – would become the great wealth transfer program of the 21st century. Currently, there are approximately <a href="https://prosperitynow.org/map/childrens-savings">42 children’s saving account programs serving 313,000</a> children in more than 30 states. Children’s savings accounts are long-range investments typically started at birth or kindergarten and meant to pay for college. Families’ contributions to the accounts are leveraged with an initial deposit by a public entity and matching funds usually provided at a one-to-one ratio. </p>
<p>In order to make the path to education and its fruits equitable, all children must have the propulsion of wealth. To do this, I propose taking what are now small-dollar children’s savings accounts and allowing families to use them as investment accounts in order to yield a higher return. </p>
<p>Children from low-wealth families would receive an initial deposit at birth in a dedicated investment account – US$1,000 for wealthiest to $10,500 for the poorest. Added to the initial deposit, $5 in monthly family contributions could allow even the most disadvantaged children to turn 18 with approximately $40,000, if the money were put into an <a href="https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/community-development-issue-briefs/2015/moving-toward-a-policy-agenda-for-improving-childrens-savings-account-delivery-systems.aspx">investment account</a>. This is based on <a href="http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/%7Eadamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSP.html">the S&P 500’s historical rate of return</a> from 1997 to 2014. This is similar to how money in a 401(k) grows.</p>
<p>This $40,000 could be used to finance debt-free higher education at most public institutions. </p>
<h2>Closing the racial wealth gap</h2>
<p>This approach fits American values by leveraging <a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/PB17-42.pdf">investment growth</a> and requiring family contributions while empowering young adults for life after college. And, while the investment accounts would not entirely close the gap that separates poor and wealthy children today, the gap would become smaller. Researchers from the Institute on Assets and Social Policy <a href="http://iasp.brandeis.edu/pdfs/Author/shapiro-thomas-m/racialwealthgapbrief.pdf">find that children’s savings accounts</a> with an initial deposit of $7,500 could close racial wealth gaps by as much as 28 percent. This 21st-century wealth transfer could change the distribution of opportunity as dramatically as extending land ownership or opening the doors of universities to previously excluded veterans. </p>
<p>Growing concern about the high cost of college has led to demands for free college. However, “free college” – a concept that gained a modest amount of traction in the 2016 elections – ignores the roots of inequity. Inequality does not start when the tuition bill arrives, nor does it end after it is paid. Instead, financial aid would be better used to influence children’s early education, college completion and post-college financial health.</p>
<p>What makes children’s savings accounts the ideal vehicle for a wealth transfer isn’t their ability to help children pay for college. It is their ability to complement efforts to reduce inequality from birth to career. </p>
<p>For instance, in an article published by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1815478?resultClick=1">a randomized control trial found</a> infants who were randomly assigned to receive a savings account demonstrated significantly higher social-emotional skills at age 4 than their counterparts without an account. These effects on social-emotional development are strongest among low-income families. Children with <a href="https://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/meta-analysis-child-development-1.pdf">improved social and emotional skills</a> display attitudes and behavior such as calming themselves when angry and establishing positive emotions that position them for academic achievement. Further, research published in “Social Service Review” found that children’s savings accounts also give parents <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/680014?journalCode=ssr">tangible hope</a> for their children’s futures. </p>
<h2>Lasting effects</h2>
<p>Children’s savings accounts help children get <a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Pages/displayresultitem.aspx?ID1=1155">to and through college</a>. Every year, many <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED529499.pdf">minority and low-income students fail to transition</a> to college despite having the desire and ability to go. Children’s savings accounts are associated with reducing <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10796126.2011.538375">“wilt”</a> – that is, when a young person in high school expects to attend college but does not do so shortly after graduating. “Wilt” is less of a problem among holders of children’s savings accounts because the accounts tend to make the students see themselves as <a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/FS13-30.pdf">destined for college</a>. What this research suggests is when students expect to go to college and have identified savings as a strategy to pay for it, they’re more likely to make it. </p>
<p>Children’s savings accounts help students realize the “payoff” that college promises. <a href="http://aedi.ssw.umich.edu/publications/1770-toward-healthy-balance-sheets-are-savings-accounts-a-gateway-to-young-adults-asset-diversification-and-accumulation">Evidence</a> suggests that children’s savings accounts may be a gateway not only to higher earnings as a college graduate, but also ownership such as stocks and bonds and more wealth accumulation. This wealth accumulation is one of the outcomes that ultimately <a href="https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2016.pdf">motivates most Americans to pursue college degrees</a>. Indeed, it is after graduation that children’s savings accounts have one of the most distinguished effects.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, today’s <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w18396">growing economic inequality</a> means that children’s savings accounts are not enough. Children from low-income families compete on an uneven playing field against peers with entrenched generational wealth advantages. As a result, children’s savings accounts haven’t been able to fully overcome the fact that American families often have little money after they pay for basic needs. This reality has led some <a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/P00-29_59.AssetBasedPoliciesForThePoor.pdf">researchers</a> and policymakers as well as school educators to oppose the idea of diverting money from income-based programs such as cash assistance to children’s savings accounts. </p>
<p>But what if spending could be changed into saving? In what I think is potentially the biggest innovation in the children’s saving account field since its conception, some children’s savings accounts might rely on <a href="http://communitylinkfoundation.org/p-card.php">reward cards</a> that provide a rebate up to 4 percent on grocery store purchases, for example. Transforming spending into saving allows even the poorest to contribute, even when purchasing goods with food stamps, by simply shopping. </p>
<h2>Spending to save</h2>
<p>Cities are also converting <a href="http://communitylinkfoundation.org/p-card.php">their spending</a> into saving by negotiating rebates up to 7 percent on purchases made with city <a href="http://www.napcp.org/page/WhatArePCards">p-cards</a>, which are similar to consumer credit cards. In Long Beach, California, this approach is estimated to raise $15 million annually. This money is placed into a general education fund for city residents.</p>
<p>Some have suggested using grant and scholarship money. For example, the College Board has <a href="https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/advocacy/policycenter/advocacy-rethinking-pell-grants-report.pdf">recommended</a> putting a portion of Pell Grant funds into savings accounts for children starting as early as age 11 or 12. Nonprofit scholarship providers are beginning to use some of their scholarship funds as early commitments that transfer assets, from the scholarship program into children’s savings accounts, early enough to affect not only how children pay for college, but also how they prepare for it. </p>
<p>However, the federal government should also play a role in funding a transformative infusion of cash into these accounts. If Congress can find money for a bailout for big banks and a tax break for the wealthy, they should be able to do the same for middle-class and poor Americans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Elliott III receives funding from Charles Steward Mott, Ford Foundation, Citi Foundation, John T. Gorman Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Friedman Family Foundation, Wabash County Foundation, Annie E. Casey, and Lumina Foundation. William Elliott III works as a consultant for NORC on a research project with Oakland Promise. </span></em></p>Children’s savings account programs are springing up around the country. A researcher says these special accounts could help pave the way to college for America’s poor.William Elliott III, Professor of Social Work, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/878502017-12-13T00:30:38Z2017-12-13T00:30:38ZCan college ‘promise’ programs deliver?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197989/original/file-20171206-920-ctqwuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers are taking a close look at "college promise" programs to see if they actually help more students obtain a college education</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/saving-every-single-dollar-cent-higher-145811306?src=XH7yqj9KpDqKq2b_BNL8PA-1-0">Calvste / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In one of her first public acts as the new mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan signed an <a href="http://durkan.seattle.gov/2017/11/mayor-jenny-durkan-signs-executive-order-creating-the-seattle-promise-college-tuition-program/">executive order</a> last month to phase in a free college tuition program. The program promises up to two years of free tuition at a Seattle community or technical college for recent graduates of Seattle’s public high schools.</p>
<p>The Seattle Promise College Tuition program is part of a growing “<a href="https://collegepromise.org/the-promise/">college promise movement</a>.” More than 200 free college promise programs <a href="https://collegepromise.org/news/seattle-mayor-durkans-free-community-college-plan/">now operate</a> in 42 states, and many of these programs were created in the last few years. </p>
<p>Proponents say that these programs will reduce the financial barriers to college and help more people get the education and training they need to get the jobs of today and tomorrow. </p>
<p>But will free college programs achieve their promise? Can they make college more affordable and increase college attainment? The answers to these questions depend on how programs are designed and structured – as well as whether they are <a href="https://collegepromise.org/cp-research/sustainable-funding/">financially sustainable</a>.</p>
<h2>Gaining a clearer picture</h2>
<p>Over the past two years, our research team at the University of Pennsylvania has been examining the characteristics of free college promise programs in states and communities across the nation. In an effort to compile, organize and share information about new and more established college promise programs, we created an <a href="http://www.ahead-penn.org/creating-knowledge/college-promise/search">online searchable database</a>. We focus on programs that seek to increase college enrollment, provide financial assistance, and benefit students who live in a particular state, city or community or who graduate from a particular school district.</p>
<p>Programs may be more effective when they are designed to meet the needs of the specific community or state. These are what Michelle Miller-Adams, Brad Hershbein and others at the <a href="https://www.upjohn.org/research/education/kalamazoo-promise-place-based-scholarships">W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research</a> call “place-based scholarship programs.” <a href="http://www.upjohn.org/sites/default/files/promise/brochure-4-pg.pdf">Place-based scholarship programs</a> not only seek to increase college participation. They also try to create a college-going culture in K-12 schools and encourage economic development. Place-based scholarship programs are modeled after the Kalamazoo Promise, created in 2005, and include other relatively long-standing initiatives like the <a href="http://www.eldoradopromise.com">El Dorado Promise</a> and the <a href="https://www.pittsburghpromise.org">Pittsburgh Promise</a>.</p>
<p>The Kalamazoo Promise, in particular, has been <a href="http://research.upjohn.org/up_workingpapers/229/">shown</a> to increase college participation and degree attainment. But just because Kalamazoo achieved these results doesn’t mean other programs will. Unlike some other programs, the Kalamazoo Promise provides a generous financial award, allows students to use that award at many two-year and four-year colleges and universities and is designed to build a college-going culture that starts in kindergarten. Other programs may not have all those things.</p>
<p>Free college promise programs will not improve college affordability or increase college degree attainment unless they are financially sustainable. Programs that have a dedicated financial source, such as Tennessee Promise’s endowment, may be more financially stable than programs that rely on philanthropic donations or annual appropriations, such as the Oregon Promise. Six years after it was created in 2009, a “promise zone” in Jackson, Michigan, was <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2015/07/jacksons_promise_zone_is_no_mo.html">dissolved</a> because the city could not raise the $2.1 million needed to make the college scholarship program viable by 2015.</p>
<p>The same year, <a href="https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/collegepays/attachments/TP_FAQ__Responses_-_Edited.pdf">the Tennessee Promise</a> emerged. This program covers tuition and fees for eligible Tennessee high school graduates who attend an eligible in-state community college or a Tennessee technology center to earn an associate degree, diploma or certificate.</p>
<p>Tennessee is not alone. Legislatures and governors in <a href="https://collegepromise.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11_/CPC_AnnualReport_2017_SMALL.pdf">at least 14 other states </a> – including <a href="https://oregonstudentaid.gov/oregon-promise.aspx">Oregon</a>, <a href="https://www.ccri.edu/about/whyccri/rhodeislandpromise">Rhode Island</a>, <a href="https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=2233">Minnesota</a> and <a href="https://www.ny.gov/programs/tuition-free-degree-program-excelsior-scholarship">New York</a> – have also established free college promise initiatives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197997/original/file-20171206-920-jym6oo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kalamazoo Promise recipients pose for a group photo during a 2015 event celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the anonymously funded program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Kalamazoo-Promise/cab2f679aff54e22bc632de17e415b4a/1/0">Mike Householder / AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.whimsymaps.com/view/collegepromise">Located across the nation</a>, free college promise programs have different participation requirements and use different approaches to award financial assistance. They also place <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189X17742653?journalCode=edra">different restrictions</a> on the postsecondary education institutions where eligible students may use an award.</p>
<p>Some differences may reflect the trade-offs that are necessary when money is limited. Some programs, for example, provide small average dollar awards to many students. Other programs offer larger awards to fewer students.</p>
<p>Many programs offer last-dollar awards to pay tuition and fees that are not covered by other federal or state grant programs. Programs that provide last-dollar awards will provide larger average awards to students from higher-income families than to those from lower-income families. This is because students from lower-income families will have their award reduced by the amount of need-based federal and state aid they receive.</p>
<p>The longer-term cost of last-dollar programs may be hard to control or predict, because last-dollar awards <a href="http://www.ecs.org/ec-content/uploads/ECS_FundingReports_BenCannon_F.pdf">depend</a> on funding for federal and state financial aid. The cost of programs that link awards to tuition and fees will also increase as tuition and fees rise. Programs should also recognize the other costs of attending college. These costs include room and board, books and supplies, transportation and childcare. The costs also include the money that students don’t earn when they go to class instead of work. </p>
<h2>More than just affordability</h2>
<p>College promise programs should not be judged only for how they improve college affordability. If we do that, we will miss the other ways that these programs might improve attainment – and the ways that these programs might be different from traditional student grant programs. Programs may also provide services that help students with other things that matter to attending and graduating college, such as advising and academic support.</p>
<p><a href="https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/attainment-agenda">Research suggests</a> the benefits of encouraging K-12 schools and colleges to work together so that students can move from K-12 schools into college without the need for “remedial” education. Two-year and four-year colleges and universities should also collaborate to enable students to transfer between institutions without losing any credits. The colleges and universities that promise recipients attend must also <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w23736">have the resources</a> to provide high-quality education and support students through program completion. </p>
<p>The Seattle Promise College Tuition Program is expected to build on the existing <a href="http://www.southseattle.edu/13th-year/">13th Year Promise Scholarship</a>, a program funded by private donors and businesses. The details of how the new program will be funded have <a href="https://collegepromise.org/news/seattle-mayor-durkans-free-community-college-plan/">not yet been determined</a>. If this and other free college promise programs are to create meaningful improvements in college attainment, then figuring out how to address college affordability as well as other barriers will be essential. Equally important, if not more, will be ensuring long-term financial sustainability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Perna has received funding from Civic Nation to support her research on college promise programs. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward J. Smith and Elaine W. Leigh 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>As more “college promise” programs are set up in the United States, researchers will be watching to see which ones do the best job at helping students realize their college dreams.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaEdward J. Smith, PhD Candidate, Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaElaine W. Leigh, PhD Candidate, Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed 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>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<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>
</figcaption>
</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">
<figcaption>
<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/479752015-09-25T09:21:39Z2015-09-25T09:21:39ZTo cut costs, college students are buying less food and even going hungry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96094/original/image-20150924-17074-1lwdv5d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On the list of students' struggles are basic necessities – food.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tulanesally/3618969705/in/photolist-6vNaBp-bv3VsV-bv3UDB-fAEzH-8x6nrx-fHNkQv-fHNkdr-fHMPnK-fJ5M4d-fHN9xD-fHMNLi-fJ5EaE-fJ5FcW-fHMUhg-fJ5FNJ-fJ5tnS-fHN3cT-fJ5m2E-fHNaBB-fJ5mid-fHN2a4-fHMT8e-fHNixB-fTH67f-fTJ6DN-fTHRzr-fTHXQc-fJ5FBy-fJ5L8A-fJ5wN1-fJ5pAE-71BgUu-2PJJS7-bjrwuH-dKZExV-6EJSmL-9qb66P-6AsDsk-fTJwNp-fTJ6wp-fTGLio-fTJb5d-fTGSCC-fTJ6Qb-fTJBJB-fTJ8Ec-7y6LNK-fJ5Crw-fHN8uD-fHNdoF">Tulane Public Relations</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Studies have long shown that a college student’s odds of achieving financial security and a better quality of life improve <a href="http://oreopoulos.faculty.economics.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/23_01_03.pdf">when he or she earns a degree</a>. </p>
<p>But what are some of the obstacles that prevent degree attainment? </p>
<p>At the <a href="wihopelab.com">Wisconsin HOPE Lab</a>, we study the challenges that students from low- and moderate-income households face in attaining a college degree. Chief among these are the many hurdles created by the high price of college. Paying the price of attending college, we find, changes who attends and for how long, as well as the college experience itself – what classes students take, the grades they earn, the activities in which they engage and even with whom they interact.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://wihopelab.com/publications/APPAM.Draft.10.28.2014.pdf">recent research</a> shows an alarming trend on college campuses: an increasing number of students tell us that they are struggling in college, sometimes even dropping out, because they can’t afford enough of life’s basic necessity – food. </p>
<h2>College students are without food</h2>
<p><a href="http://hepg.org/hep-home/books/reinventing-financial-aid">Pell Grants were introduced in the 1970s</a> as the nation’s flagship program to help low-income students cover their college costs. Back then, the grants covered nearly 75% of the cost of attending a public four-year college.
<a href="http://wihopelab.com/publications/Redefining_College_Affordability.pdf">Today, that percentage has dropped to 30</a>. Add to this the fact that <a href="http://www.finaid.org/educators/ProfileofPellGrantRecipients.pdf">two-thirds</a> of all current Pell Grant recipients grew up in families who live below 150% of the federal poverty line.</p>
<p>Now, let’s look at our research findings.</p>
<p>Beginning in 2008, we began surveying undergraduates attending public two-year and four-year colleges and universities across Wisconsin – 3,000 students in total. All of the students surveyed received the federal Pell Grant.</p>
<p><a href="http://wihopelab.com/publications/APPAM.Draft.10.28.2014.pdf">Our study</a> found that 71% of the students said that they changed their food shopping or eating habits due to a lack of funds. We then asked students if they were getting enough to eat. Twenty-seven percent of students said they did not have enough money to buy food; they ate less than they felt they should; or they cut the size of their meals because of money. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96096/original/image-20150924-17074-fw2uo2.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">Some 7% of students at four-year colleges said they’ve gone hungry for an entire day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnerobot/4482898587/in/photolist-7Q92yX-fx5j6-8Yy5fi-7LHXqJ-arHmTK-6K1BWV-5NfQvz-bUKXf9-arsNk1-2GraSU-nxpLWc-8sP3b3-bxZrsP-6VT1dy-LVHur-dBjH2L-6VEg9g-7TF4sW-3aim6a-LVHyg-gRJRwF-pouqq7-bUKXa7-m6jFmo-wkqBe-utdXir-5nchL-8MAwTF-7vzFGy-kCdA6Z-wyyHv-hMeFN-mntAh-6d199r-pWYde-2JRbqu-nmVM5s-4bEZzm-6d8VPU-arL2HU-564JLu-nYZx2i-7pzE23-KBY6e-5e2TiK-bxsgG-9kkqW7-4VqpyD-phRWGV-boRVgq">Ginny</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When asked if they ever went without eating for an entire day because they lacked enough money for food, 7% of students at two-year colleges and 5% of students at four-year colleges said yes. </p>
<p>Our study focused on students attending public colleges and universities when a recession was getting under way. But our more recent surveys, as well as similar research initiatives in other parts of the country, indicate this situation is not limited to these institutions or that time period alone. </p>
<p>For example, Wisconsin HOPE Lab affiliate <a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/anthonyjack/home">Anthony Jack</a> from Harvard University <a href="http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/harvard-researcher-reveals-alienating-effects-of-inclusion-programs/article_5fdfbc5e-5c08-11e5-8b6a-0bdd28b92104.html">is also uncovering hunger among undergraduates</a> at elite institutions that purport to meet their full financial needs. His ethnographic research found students turning to off-campus food pantries and sometimes fainting from hunger. This is startling <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/upshot/college-access-index-2015-the-details.html?_r=0">given the positive media attention paid to such schools</a>, which often advertise “<a href="http://thecollegematchmaker.com/63-colleges-committed-student-loans/">no loans</a>” policies.</p>
<h2>What this means for America</h2>
<p>The ramifications of this situation are dire, and not only for the students who cannot travel the higher education path to the American Dream. </p>
<p>When a person makes a trade-off between food and other essential living expenses, such as paying for housing or medical expenses, it is also a sign of food insecurity – inadequate access to nutritious food.</p>
<p>We presented this research in <a href="http://wihopelab.com/publications/Hunger_Testimony_Broton_Goldrick-Rab_2015.pdf">our recent testimony</a> to the <a href="https://hungercommission.rti.org/">National Commission on Hunger</a>, noting also that students need not be hungry all the time in order to be food-insecure. Reducing the quality of food intake or acquiring food in a socially unacceptable way is also <a href="http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US9111600">food insecurity</a>. </p>
<p>This is not just an issue of unaffordable debt and no degree. The nation’s economy is at risk as well. Consider this: </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96098/original/image-20150924-17100-8mnej5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why can’t colleges have a lunch program for students?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pennstatelive/5999542906/in/photolist-a9ae5W-a1aKJT-HWJbk-9wusXG-DfLaj-avxCZB-bjPUUA-4Jq1yv-4Juf2S-4Jq1ux-4Jueqj-4JueXj-4JueuJ-4Jufh5-4Juf6b-2hSjEv-2hWJX3-2hSjzP-bkY4hE-4zbGiA-6yHwRr-B5c4j-48dyMi-9CDkSv-e631Np-B5cf9-8xa7ah-dzHzjg-o5XRWW-Cp3e-8M4RHK-r9YZKC-quLY9i-rrrG8B-rrynZH-quyR1f-7ZxtG4-c1JPr9-c1JQJU-e62TDP-8xcRfx-8xuFJD-c1JKH1-9d8TDd-8x7wtc-7bqtT-bfW3ED-8x77AT-97TEdA-8xaikZ">Penn State</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Enough students start college to meet these goals, but not enough finish. </p>
<p><a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015144">Studies show</a> that only 14% of students from the bottom 20% of the income distribution completed a bachelor’s degree or higher within eight years of high school graduation, compared to 29% of those from middle socioeconomic families and 60% of students from the top 20% of the income distribution.</p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>In our testimony, we urged the National Commission on Hunger, as well as government and educational institutions, to align hunger policies with educational policies. </p>
<p>For example, students who have grown up in poverty do not suddenly become wealthier when they enroll in college, and grants fall far short of covering their full cost of attendance. Yet the free breakfast and lunch and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that supported them during their elementary and high school years disappear or become difficult to access in college. </p>
<p>Instituting a National School Lunch Program at public colleges and universities – and allowing students to use both financial aid and SNAP to pay for college expenses – will likely help them complete degrees more often and faster.</p>
<p>SNAP, especially, should be retooled to allow more students to benefit. Fixes could include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>aligning SNAP eligibility with need-based financial aid eligibility</p></li>
<li><p>allowing college enrollment to count toward <a href="http://www.clasp.org/resources-and-publications/publication-1/SNAP-Policy-Brief_College-Student-Eligibility-Update.pdf">SNAP work requirements</a></p></li>
<li><p>removing logistical barriers to filing a SNAP application. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is an issue that needs further investigation. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1515/jcc-2014-0031#.VgKuzyBViko">Studies of specific institutions</a>, conducted over the last decade, indicate that college students are at a greater risk of food insecurity than the general public. However, there is no nationally representative study that exists. </p>
<p><a href="http://wihopelab.com/projects/SSUSA-Implementation-Assessment.pdf">Practitioners are working</a> to respond to students’ needs, but effective policy response requires additional information.</p>
<p>Finally, universities and colleges themselves must do more to identify and deal with the problem of on-campus food insecurity. That includes surveying students and establishing services such as <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAAahUKEwjy3LS7zInIAhVNFZIKHXTQCE4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cufba.org%2F&usg=AFQjCNFROJP2fC16Dvw1IF2APQDsBWVIbw&sig2=hQI0WpO-izOgUnkJaHqlYg&bvm=bv.103073922,d.aWw&cad=rja">food pantries</a> as well as other means of accessing nutritious food. These institutions need to educate students not only about the issue of hunger but also the resources that they can access.</p>
<p>Clearly, the true costs of college attendance are greater than anticipated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Goldrick-Rab receives funding from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, William T. Grant Foundation, and National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katharine Broton receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences. </span></em></p>Students are going hungry on college campuses. The latest survey shows that four in 10 University of California students do not have access to nutritious food.Sara Goldrick-Rab, Professor of Educational Policy Studies & Sociology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonKatharine Broton, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.