Every year, 400,000 qualified students choose not to attend college because it’s too expensive. And if there’s any question why, you needn’t look any further than a College Board report that was released recently on rising tuition rates.

The findings were bleak: The list price at the average public, four-year university rose by 6.6 percent this year, bringing in-state tuition and fees to an average of $6,185. Students at private, four-year universities felt a smaller, but still significant jump with tuition up 5.5 percent to an average $23,712.

Well, that’s unfortunate, you suggest. But not unexpected, right? The price of education is growing just like everything else.

Wrong.

For nearly 30 years - and 2007 is no exception - the cost of college has exceeded inflation. That means that a bigger slice of the average family’s financial pie is being eaten by each student’s education, even if the family’s income is also growing.

Making matters worse, as college costs go up, student financial aid has trended down. The amount of money students received in state, institutional and federal student aid declined by 3.1 percent. Pell Grants - the federal government’s largest need-based college aid program - were slashed during Republican rule in Washington by $141 million

And so as you might expect, private borrowing for higher education is increasing. Private loans, which have higher interest rates and little borrower protection, now make up 24 percent of total education loans, up from 6 percent a decade ago.

And all the while, the burden of failing to complete a college degree has grown. According to the Census Bureau, college graduates earn $20,000 more per year or $1 million more over a course of a lifetime than non-college graduates. Not only do people with bachelor’s degrees have higher incomes, but they are more likely to have more significant savings, increased professional mobility and better consumer decision making skills.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration’s policies have done little to make higher education more affordable. The gateway to the American dream has grown beyond the grasp of more Americans on the president’s watch - and he’s done next to nothing to help them.

So much for “compassionate conservatism.”

Thankfully, there are a number of practical things that can be done to help students cover the costs of going to college. And after seven years of neglect, some of the Democratic presidential candidates have made reducing the cost of college staples of their campaign platforms.

As Sen. Hillary Clinton said last year in unveiling the Democratic Leadership Council’s American Dream Initiative, “the most important doorway into the middle class is education beyond high school.”

In the college plan she announced just recently, Clinton highlighted two pillars of that initiative providing tax relief to help middle-class families pay for college, and holding colleges accountable for producing more college graduates. Her plan includes a $3,500 refundable college tax credit, and a Graduation Fund aimed at raising college graduation rates.

Other candidates have also put forward plans to expand college opportunity. Sen. Joe Biden proposed a $3,000 college tax credit, John Edwards has outlined a plan that will cover college costs for a full year in return for working part-time while going to school. Moreover, virtually every Democratic candidate has backed a proposal to increase in Pell Grants and simplify the financial aid application process.

A college degree is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for achieving the American dream. After seven years of neglect, it’s time Washington put that at the forefront of nation’s domestic agenda.

No qualified American should have to enter the workforce without all the tools necessary to compete in the global economy.

NOTE: This piece originally appeared in the Austin American-Statesman.

This entry was posted on 1.07.2008 at 8:40 am and is filed under Economic Opportunity, Helping Families, Ending Poverty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.