 "Photo: Courtesy of MCT Campus")
Two weeks ago, I spent $3,214. On a used car? No. On a new laptop? Wrong again. On the nicest par of jeans Gucci ever tailored? Not a chance. On what then, you ask?
Tuition. And it's not getting any cheaper.
According to the College Board, students attending public four-year universities paid an average of $6,185 for tuition and fees during the 2007-2008 academic year, an increase of 6.6 percent over the previous year. Similarly, the net tuition revenue accrued by college institutions grew by approximately 34.6 percent between 1998-2005, according to a report released by the Delta Cost Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that focuses on how college spending relates to educational quality and productivity.
The study also found that, while tuition is becoming a more important source of revenue for many colleges, the amount of money spent on classroom instruction isn't keeping up with the pace. Between 1998-2005, the amount of money earmarked for direct instructional spending increased by a mere 3.2 percent per student, less than one-tenth of the increase in median tuition revenue over the same period.
With the credit crunch created by the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the nation's largest lending institutions, and a lingering recession, more students (by some estimates, almost a quarter of all undergraduates) are being forced to pay for their tuition in plastic. But paying for college by credit card carries substantial risks, such as high interest rates and mounting debt. Already, a typical degree comes with a $9,000 postgraduation credit card bill.
In order to control the escalating cost of college tuition and keep our nation's future intelligentsia from being priced out of higher learning, elected officials must make college more affordable and more accessible. Not just for America's economic elite, but for all students, regardless of income.
To begin with, Congress should institute a fully refundable tax credit, under which the first $5,000 paid for a college education is subsidized, in its entirety, by the federal government. Such a credit shouldn't stop there, however, but should go on to cover between two-thirds and three-quarters of the average cost of tuition at a public university, with the size of the credit progressing as a family's income diminishes.
Additionally, the maximum size of a Pell Grant award should be expanded for low-income students. In the 1970s, the maximum Pell Grant covered 55 percent of costs at a public four-year college. Today, the $4,730 maximum covers only 32 percent of college costs, and that percentage is on the decline.
Though legislative initiatives have increased the maximum possible grant limit to over $5,000 in recent years, cuts to the federal financial aid budget have prevented Pell Grants from being funded at such levels. Accordingly, appropriations should be added to the federal budget to cover Pell Grant disbursements in excess of $5,500, with subsequent increases being tied to rate of tuition inflation.
Finally, the cumbersome financial aid application process should be simplified and streamlined. The current version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is composed of 127 questions over five pages, making the application longer and more complicated than some tax return forms.
Instead of having to digest such an immense amount of information, students and their families should be able to apply for financial aid by making a note on their tax returns (a solution advocated by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama).
Most importantly, our country's leaders must recognize the value of a college education, both to individual welfare and American prosperity. It's a kind of value that can't be measured in dollars alone, but must be gauged by the changes in attitude that result from edifying the public.
Sure, the United States may spend more money on college education, per student, than any other industrialized nation. What good is that investment, however, if the only people popping the cork on Graduation Day are wealthy socialites, for whom a degree brings little more than a boost in self-esteem?
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