For the last few years, the issue of rising costs of college has been
receiving more and more press, and for good reason. America is
approaching a crisis in higher education costs, and unless something is
done about it, a college education will become less and less
accessible, while a college degree is becoming increasingly important
in the job market.
The problem itself is quite simple: the cost of college rises steadily
each year, and these increases are at a rate that significantly exceeds
increases in income. What this means is that college becomes less and
less affordable every year. Of course, this problem is felt even more
sharply than usual here due to the University’s famously high cost of
attendance.
According to CampusGrotto.com, our beloved institution has the seventh
highest tuition in the nation this year. If room and board is taken
into account, Wesleyan moves up to fifth place, topped only by George
Washington, John Hopkins, Brown, and NYU. Plus, this doesn’t even take
into account all the incidentals that make college life even more
expensive (travel, books, eating out, etc.).
Because of this, our University in particular relies on a strong
financial aid system in order to make college affordable for people
from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. But what’s the big deal, you
may ask? If you talk to the Office of Financial Aid here, they will
tell you that they meet one hundred percent of admitted students’
needs.
Unfortunately, the claim of meeting of the entirety of student needs is
misleading, and it doesn’t address perhaps the biggest problem many
students face, that of increasingly high indebtedness.
In order to understand the problem, it is important to note that the
Office of Financial Aid itself defines what a student’s needs are. In
other words, a student’s needs are met only to the extent that the
Office of Financial Aid acknowledges these needs. If the Office of
Financial Aid says you don’t need financial help, then you don’t get
any, regardless of whether your family actually has the ability to pay
for your education out of pocket.
The result is that many middle and upper- middle class students
(including yours truly) end up taking out massive private loans that
can easily exceed $100,000 by the time of graduation. This is not
because parents refuse to pay for their children’s education, but
because (like the overwhelming majority of Americans) they simply
cannot afford to shell out $50,000 a year for one of their children.
But if you don’t demonstrate need in the Office of Financial Aid’s
eyes, then you’re on your own to shoulder a hundred thousand dollars in
debt, if not more.
Essentially, the philosophy of the financial aid system is built on the
faulty premise that some students are somehow more prepared than others
to take on massive debts. If your parents are lower or lower middle
class, then most of your education will likely be funded by grants. Yet
if you are middle or upper middle class, most of your education will
almost certainly be funded by loans. However, both of these students
attend the same school and will graduate with the same degree and same
earnings potential, so how is one more suited than the other to pay off
large debts?
This is not an argument for reducing grants for lower-income students,
because it is harder for them to secure private loans and so they need
grants in order to attend. This is an argument for providing more
grants to middle class students, many who also cannot afford to attend
school on their own.
In November, University President Michael Roth announced that all loans
for the neediest students would be discontinued and replaced with
grants. This is certainly a positive step, but it does nothing for the
majority of students, the silent masses who receive no grants at all.
Affording a private university education in America is becoming an
increasingly inequitable affair. Those at the top of the tax brackets
have little difficulty paying, and those at the bottom are increasingly
taken care of too through grants and scholarships. Yet those in the
middle are the true losers, forced to take out huge loans in order to
pay for the education that no middle class family can easily afford.
Unless private colleges like Wesleyan figure out how to help these
students--those who make up the majority of the student
population--things will only grow worse as college costs continue to
rise. The present situation is not only unfair; it is also
unsustainable.
How Much Can We Pay?
The rising cost of college isn't slowing down anytime soon for many middle class students, even with the recent promises by prominent institutions to meet 100% of need. From the Wesleyan Argus.