Both of the reports released today focus on the growing college affordability crisis, and its potential – if left unaddressed – to weaken America’s ability to compete in a global economy. One of the reports, prepared by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, focuses on how financial barriers are keeping millions of qualified students, especially low and moderate income students, from going to college. The report estimates that between 2002 and 2012, as many as 2.4 million low-income students will not earn bachelor’s degrees due to financial barriers alone.
The second report, prepared by the Campaign for America’s Future, also shows that declining family incomes and rising college tuition costs are putting college further out of reach for families across the country.
“Both of these reports show that the skyrocketing costs of college continue to gouge the wallets of students and working families. Students are graduating with bigger college loan debts than ever before, and many can’t afford to go to college at all. These rising costs, coupled with stagnating family incomes and dwindling financial aid, have led to a serious crisis – one that hits low-and moderate-income students especially hard,” said Miller. “We should be encouraging qualified students to pursue a college degree and become valuable members of our nation’s workforce. Instead, the high price of college admission is unfairly holding too many qualified students back.”
Nationwide, college tuition at four-year public colleges and universities increased by roughly 40 percent between 2001 and 2005. Interest rates on student and parent loans are now fixed at all-time highs of 6.8 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. The typical student now graduates with $17,500 in federal student loans alone. The Democratic proposal to cut college loan interest rates half would save students with $17,500 in debt $5,600 over the life of their loans.
Despite these trends, the Republican-led Congress actually cut $12 billion in funding from the federal student aid programs earlier this year. Miller said that now more than ever, lowering college costs and increasing attendance is critical in order to maintain America’s economic competitiveness.
“Cutting college financial aid is clearly the wrong direction for our students and our economy at time when we should be doing all we can to increase college attendance and strengthen our nation’s workforce. Democrats believe that investing in education and innovation is essential to ensuring a bright and successful economic future, and we are deeply committed to making college more affordable. We need to go in a new direction that guarantees that no qualified student is ever prevented from going to college because the price is too high.”
