2012.02.03
Editorial: Middle-income college students
Don’t cap tuition assistance
Virginia’s colleges use some tuition revenue to help middle-income students afford a degree.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proposed two-year budget increases funding for higher education. It also restricts how much money from tuition schools may devote to financial aid for middle-income students.
McDonnell might want to be known as an “education governor,” but he will find that title elusive as long as he pursues measures that will make a degree even more difficult to attain.
Well McDonnell’s proposal fits in the Republican game plan — disdain for the middle class.
Comment by gdad — February 3, 2012 @ 8:01 am
Ah, but gdad…you’re forgetting that there are thousands of charitable organizations waiting in the wings to pick up the slack, and who have wads of cash just itching to be handed out to students who need the assistance, right? Oh yeah, about that…
As someone who came from such a situation, without various government tuition assistance programs in place I may never have earned my degree. My dad’s paltry US Navy pension was just enough to prevent us from qualifying for meaningful Federal financial aid (got a couple hundred worth of Pell grants, enough to buy a semester’s worth of books), but he had no ability to fund even community college tuition rates, let alone costs at Virginia Tech. Thankfully, I got substantial tuition assistance from the state, which made a real and meaningful dent in the expenses. I managed to come up with the remaining balance using a mix of student loans and scholarships. But, I still needed to work while in school and during all of my breaks to adequately afford every aspect of collegiate life, so my financial aid was slashed dramatically year after year because I worked, and the financial aid calculations said we made too much (I made so much that occasionally, I could afford canned chicken to mix in with my Ramen noodles…)
Colleges, especially 4-year schools, are stacked against people from middle and lower-middle class income families. Unless the parents did the right thing by investing substantial sums of money from an early date to help provide funding, they simply cannot afford the current costs of higher education…and they most certainly make too much to qualify for traditional ‘needs-based’ aid programs. Even then, with saving since tuition hikes massively outpace inflation, it’s quite likely that savings may not cover everything either. I got lucky, relatively speaking, by being able to eventually obtain my 4-year degree, even though I had to go through a community college, 2 different 4-year universities, and 6 total years to do it (including one year where I had to drop out to save money for a return). And, because I had to work 2 jobs for 25-40 hours a week while in school, I couldn’t take a traditional full-time load of 15-18 credit hours, to help graduate in 4 total years in school. No, I had to take 12-14 credits so I could allow enough time to work and take a ‘full-time’ class load, which resulted in an extra year’s worth of tuition and fees to be paid.
I got it done by struggling, and am still paying for my college education 8 years later. Others I’ve known have not been so fortunate, and had to abandon their dreams of a college degree to accept the reality that they couldn’t afford it. Some enlisted in the military, while others took whatever jobs they could find. Most have still never been able to obtain a degree, even though it’s been 14 years since we all left high school.
Comment by Other John — February 3, 2012 @ 12:03 pm
There’s some merit to McDonnell’s thinking here. If you think about it, what’s happening is that Virginia’s universities are deliberately overcharging some students in order to make things cheaper for other students presumed to be more deserving.
It’s quite common these days for graduates of Virginia’s public universities to graduate with $30+ thousand in student loan debt. Somehow, asking them them to borrow an additional $10 thousand or so to benefit some other student seems wrong to me. One person’s student debt burden shouldn’t include the education of somebody else. Dealing with the costs of your own education is bad enough.
Comment by Brian Lindholm — February 3, 2012 @ 12:11 pm
I agree with Brian. Why should families who saved for college rather than have all the expensive luxuries (big screen TVs, fancy cars, I-phones, etc.) have to subsidize those who chose not to save knowing that having no savings would make them eligible for financial aid? I know several families that specifically chose not to save because they knew that their savings would make them ineligible for need-based aid.
As a college employee I am amazed at the many “toys” students bring with them to college – cars, laptops, name-brand clothes, etc., etc., then they go off for exotic spring-break vacations.
The colleges don’t help with their multi-million-dollar, student centers, fitness centers, sports arenas, etc. I often wonder if our task is to educate or to entertain students while they delay their entry into the world of work.
Comment by alan — February 3, 2012 @ 6:41 pm
3. and 4. – You guys break me up. Come back when you have educated your own children. The few taxes you pay that goes to public education is so minute in relation to the costs that you will pay for each uneducated non-worker. You should stand in line to help with public education as it is so much cheaper than not educating the youth.
Comment by Richard J Beason, CPA — February 3, 2012 @ 11:00 pm
WOW, a lot of people have really bought into the meme that everyone else is getting something off their hard working backs haven’t they? And we wonder what has divided this nation?
I hope you will all be very happy when education, government service and all control of citizens is once again only in the hands of the Plutocracy. Certainly there can be no benefit to poor or working class kids getting an education they don’t “deserve” or have the money to pay for.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — February 4, 2012 @ 12:02 am
6 – Sandi, “education, government service and all control of citizens” is in the hands of the plutocracy now, the one known as “the government”. And no, it doesn’t make me happy – I can state with absolute confidence that I can better see to the education of my kid(s), and can better control my own life than anyone – ANYONE – in Washington.
Comment by 89Hoo — February 4, 2012 @ 8:13 am
Something else doesn’t add up in this commentary: “That aid is most important for students from middle-income homes. The poorest families have greater access to federal assistance; the wealthiest can afford tuition.”
If we overcharge students “of the 1%” by a whopping factor of 2X and use the surplus to provide aid, how many students would that help? Well, the children of the 1% will comprise about 1% of the student population. [After all, the greatly wealthy aren't having greatly more children than others.] If spread around a bit, this surplus might help 2% or 3% of the middle-class students? Something like that? This isn’t much help.
No, to provide large scale assistance for middle-class students, many more students would have to be overcharged. 20% to 40% of them, I’d guess. This definitely dips into the ranks of the middle-class.
The answer to keeping Virginia’s universities affordable for the middle class is to keep tuition rates under control. Alas, Virginia tuition rates have climbed markedly (along with tuition rates across the country):
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/284111
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=14775
http://collegeexplorations.blogspot.com/2011/04/uva-and-william-mary-announce-tuition.html
http://satyagraha.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/college-tuition-hyperinflation/
Demanding that a bunch of students overpay in order to make it cheaper for other students isn’t the right answer to this problem. Why are college costs increasing 3X faster than inflation? I think Alan’s comment in #4 explains part of the problem: “… their multi-million-dollar student centers, fitness centers, sports arenas, etc.“
Comment by Brian Lindholm — February 4, 2012 @ 12:09 pm
89hoo – Perhaps you can educate your children better than anyone. But I have to wonder what kind of education it will be in comparison to what they learn and how they learn it. Much of education has to do with being a social person to learn not only for yourself, but how to work with others, how to complete, how to fit in, and how to lead others, and how to be lead if you are not a leader. Public education is designed to teach all these things. It si not perfect, but it is so much more than one person teaching one child reading and math. Those in Washington and in Public education realize this and work hard to make sure every child has a chance to learn.
Comment by Richard J Beason, CPA — February 4, 2012 @ 12:21 pm
8. Brian, private as well as state colleges have stated tuition rates than many students pay. For example, check Roanoke Colleges tuition rate and then check with the middle class parent how much their student is paying. When a student is wanted by the institution for their grades and academic abilities but does not qualify for financial assistance and the parents cannot afford the tuition like a wealthier parent. Roanoke then gives the middle class student a discount to encourage them to attend. The school believes having the student benefits their institution and are happy to give them a better rate. It is not full tuition and it is not a scholarship. It is merely a discount given because the school wants the student who could not otherwise attend. Why shouldn’t the state schools do the same?
Comment by Richard J Beason, CPA — February 4, 2012 @ 1:23 pm
Richard #5 – I AM educating FIVE children. I know about costs and waste.
Comment by alan — February 5, 2012 @ 12:10 am
11. In working for a college, you know of the wastes at many of the institutions. Having worked with colleges, both private and public, as well as industry and retail, I have found waste at all. It simply is human nature to overspend and waste. Data collection is helping control, but there is a point where the savings begins to cause more trouble in moral than they save in dollars.
Each institution has its own problems, but from my experience, State run institutions have less waste than private colleges as the controls in place are much more stringent and the number of eyes watching each expenditure greatly increased.
Comment by Richard J Beason, CPA — February 5, 2012 @ 8:49 am