Most of us have been vaguely aware that the price of a
college degree has been on a steady increase for quite sometime. In the last few weeks, many stories have come
to light about the disturbing true costs of higher education and leading some
to question the true value of a college education. What we are seeing now is a confluence of
three major factors, the skyrocketing cost of a college education, the ever
increasing amount of student debt and a lack of good jobs for graduates. The problem is readily apparent in Maine,
where we have ranked number two in the Union, in average student loan debt,
second only to New Hampshire.
THE COST:
Since 1980, the price tag to attend a typical public
university has risen nearly 500%. We can
all guess that the increase far outstrips inflation and the rate at which
family incomes have climbed. All of
which leaves us, to wonder why.
In 2010, Kevin Carey (article) wrote
a great piece on the ever increasing cost of higher education and how
institutions are judged on a reputation culture rather than an objective
data. His argument being, we judge
schools on how much they spend and in turn how much they cost, rather than how
well they teach the students. Therefore,
schools continue to spend more and more to maintain reputation in order to keep
up recruitment. The cycle continues on
and on, with schools vying for attention and increasing tuition every year, to
cover the tab.
These increasing costs have also outpaced the rate at which
Pell Grants and scholarships can keep up.
In 1980, if you received a $1000.00 scholarship, you had about a third
of a year's tuition at an average public school. Today, that same scholarship, accounts for
less than an eighth (infographic)
of the average annual tuition. Pell
Grants used to be around 70% and have fallen to the mid thirties. That's without even getting into room and
board, books, and all those lovely fees.
What we have also seen across our fair nation, is a steady
decline in the amount of money that States are putting into their universities
and colleges. With ever tightening
belts, these are easy cuts to make, they fall into the category of “user fees”
in many lawmakers minds. The people
getting the education are paying for it, in higher tuition.
What all this comes down to, for those without the money, is
the creation student loans.
STUDENT DEBT:
$1 Trillion is what our national student debt total is
estimated to be. Bigger than credit
cards, bigger than car loans, second only to mortgages in the consumer debt
world. The average US college graduate
is said to have $23,300 in student loans.
The average Maine student is looking at just a shade under $30k. The numbers are also showing that 66% of all
those college graduates have these loans.
Maine once again, beats that at 68%.
Mind you, these numbers don't seem to include all the loans
parents took out. They also seem to be
hazy on those who didn't graduate and dropped out. The numbers are more disturbing, if we look
at data for recent graduates. This USA
Today article had this to say:
“The average student debt load
tops $25,000 in the U.S.,
while the job market for recent graduates continues to struggle. More than 95
U.S. colleges report that their 2010 graduates — the most recent data available
— owed on average more than $35,000, and 73 colleges reported that more than
90% of the 2010 class had student loan debt, according to an analysis by the
nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt.”
This would indicate that situation is worsening. Some economists see this as a potential
financial crisis. Not as bad as the
mortgage mess, but still damaging to an already bloodied economy. Ultimately, it will come down to whether or
not these students can pay.
WHY CAN'T THEY PAY?
We've heard the mantra on and off, from both sides of the
aisles. “Jobs, jobs, jobs!” That's
right, jobs. Many recent college
graduates have emerged into an economy with no place for them. It's hard to pay a $500.00 a monthly student
loan bill, when you're only making $1000.00 a month. At some point, they will have to decide what
they pay and what they won't. It's not a
hard choice when one can't afford food, rent and paying Sallie Mae.
Even the graduates who land good jobs are going to be
impacted. These debts will slow their
ability to buy a car, a house, or pay for their own child's education. If anything horrible should happen, these
loans can't be bankrupted.
With the threat of student loan interest rates doubling, due
to Congressional inaction, you can bet this won't be getting better anytime
soon.
FALLOUT:
We can not continue on this path. If higher education becomes out of reach for
the lower and middle class, we will further erode our ability to compete in the
world market. If too many, who do manage
to graduate, are overly burdened by student loans, they will not be able to
fully participate in our economy. If the
existing loans aren't repaid, the American tax payer is on the hook for all the
federally insured loans, so it will be us, and not the banks, stuck with this
unsecured loans.
None of these things leads to a prosperous nation. We, as a nation, need to address these
issues. The proposed solutions to the
issues facing us, are varied and of differing value, but until we have a
Congress willing to work together and address them, we won't get anywhere. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, as
Americans, and Mainers, to weigh the options and hold our elected officials to
the fire on this front.
"