Putting Higher
Education Back in Reach
From Issue 4, May 2006
The cost of a public four-year degree has risen
sharply, in part because public colleges across the country no
longer receive generous government subsidies to help keep tuition rates
low, according to a recent editorial. With budget cuts, public funding nationally has
fallen below 20 percent of total revenue at many schools. In turn, low-
and middle-income families or students are taking on mountains of debt
to finance college costs. For some, tuition and other costs add to the
difficulties those who most need higher education already face. Some
researchers believe this cost burden is discouraging would-be college
students and causing our nation to fall farther behind.
One observer notes that when states pay their
universities to hold down tuition rates, they are indirectly subsidizing
all students equally, regardless of financial need. Alternatively, he
suggests that states invest their higher education dollars strategically
by turning at least part, if not all, of each public four-year
university into a private, nonprofit corporation, with legislation to
protect research grants and centers and honor personnel and pension
obligations. Each school’s subsidy would be phased out to enable
campuses to grandfather in current students and adjust to the new
environment. The freed-up subsidy dollars would be allocated to
scholarships, valid at any accredited four-year college in the state,
for new undergraduate and graduate students. The scholarships could go
primarily to middle- and low-income students, with some reserved for
engineering majors, math teachers, or other groups that meet state
needs. Middle- and low-income students’ degree costs would significantly
decrease as universities and colleges scrambled to attract
scholarship-holding students.(1)
Possible Implications for Kentucky:
Rising college tuition rates and student debt burdens have significant
implications for a state that must increase its population of
college-educated citizens if it is to overcome a legacy of poverty. As a
private good, access to––and successful completion of––college, along
with home ownership, has come to define the middle class in 21st century America. As a public good, increasing levels of
education attainment are key to maintaining global economic and
intellectual leadership. To remain competitive with surrounding states,
Kentucky must provide quality higher education opportunities without
creating an undue financial burden on those who pursue them. Arguably, a
more educated populace is the Commonwealth’s most important goal, and
affordable, accessible higher education is central to its realization.
Contributing Writer Billie S. Dunavent
Source:
1
James C. Garland, "How to Put College Back in
Reach," editorial, The State Journal 4 Jan. 2006. |
