Thing #5

The Increasing Cost of Higher Education

This school year, I started off my classes with the importance of staying in school, a good work ethic, and the benefits of hard work. I told my kids that college is attainable and there is plenty of money out there to help pay for higher education. They just have to work hard, earn the grade, and set themselves apart by participating in extra-curricular activities.

THEN…it turns out we’ve been in a recession since Dec. 2007. Funds are drying up and drying up quick; funds that include grants and scholarships the majority of college students depend on for financial aid. My students are only freshmen, so in four years maybe the economy will rebound, but what about this year’s seniors and those already in college. What debt do they face???
In the news today, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education released a report stating that the cost of college is rising and rising OUTRAGEOUSLY!

“Overall, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.” Click here for the full article.

The majority of my kiddos are Title 1, low-income. For those that are college bound, the road just got rougher.