To build an economy that works for more people - one in which the benefits of higher education are broadly shared and felt by every community regardless of race or class - lawmakers will need to: Higher costs jeopardize not only the prospects of those individual students but also the outlook for whole communities and states, which increasingly rely on highly educated workforces to grow and thrive. This is especially true for students of color (who have historically faced large barriers to attending college), low-income students, and students from non-traditional backgrounds. Rising tuition threatens affordability and access, leaving many students and their families –– including those whose annual wages have stagnated or fallen over recent decades - either saddled with onerous debt or unable to afford college altogether. But cuts to higher education, rising tuition, and stagnant household earnings make it difficult for today’s students - a cohort more racially and economically diverse than any before it - to secure those benefits. The potential benefits of a college degree are significant, with greater lifetime earnings for those who obtain a bachelor’s degree relative to those who only receive a high school diploma.
Funding has rebounded somewhat, but costs remain high and services in some places have not returned. In the most difficult years after the recession, colleges responded to significant funding cuts by increasing tuition, reducing faculty, limiting course offerings, and in some cases closing campuses. Overall state funding for public two- and four-year colleges in the school year ending in 2018 was more than $6.6 billion below what it was in 2008 just before the Great Recession fully took hold, after adjusting for inflation. These cuts also have worsened racial and class inequality, since rising tuition can deter low-income students and students of color from college.ĭeep state cuts in funding for higher education over the last decade have contributed to rapid, significant tuition increases and pushed more of the costs of college to students, making it harder for them to enroll and graduate. Deep state cuts in funding for higher education over the last decade have contributed to rapid, significant tuition increases and pushed more of the costs of college to students, making it harder for them to enroll and graduate.
0 kommentar(er)
