When the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gives America a collective "F" in the subject of college affordability, it creates a need for people to realize that current problems in higher education can't be reduced to just one letter.
College today is hard to pay for, but there are a course-load of reasons Michigan and 36 other states flunked. Colleges keep raising tuition as students and parents demand more amenities, such as Wi-Fi Internet access. Health care cost for every organization, not just universities, are sky-rocketing due to prescription drug costs. The economy is a big factor in how affordable college is. Back in 2000, before recession, the group graded national college affordability at a 'D' level. While it's hard to gather any definitive cyclical patterns from the data, in the short there is a definite cycle tying affordability to economy.
It's no secret that nearly all 50 states, and the universities within them, are in a huge economic shortfall. Ideally, state legislatures and college officials should work together to make the best out of a sticky situation. One problem with California's system - it received a "B" - is that state government assists student tuition costs at the same burden as funding public universities. To counteract the crunch, California Legislature has been forced to mandate tuition increases. When both hands are dirty, it's tough for one to wash the other.
MSU is an example of a university working with state legislators and keeping them on task in aiding the university. But it's not just one party's fault for college affordability issues - we're all to blame. Students and parents probably weren't as diligent in voting for candidates who would actively help out higher education years ago as compared to now. If people across the nation had voted with that intent, or at all, then they might have found legislative bodies more willing to spend larger portions of nationally tightened budgets to help colleges.
When a nation is feeling as good as the United States was during the economic boom in the 1990s, the ramifications of impending recession - and the after effects - are not as minutely considered as they could be. Preparing for college affordability crises during a bull market is essentially a disregarded practice. In a figurative sense, everyone was caught with their pants down on this one. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the nation was dragging itself out of a recession, programs such as the Michigan Education Trust were developed to help get students in college. Some of your friends are probably at MSU using MET money. While such a program might not be possible in Michigan today, the concept has regained its attractiveness.
Coincidentally, low-income students who can't get enough scholarships to stay financially afloat are choosing to leave college. Middle income students are also feeling the strain, and their families are working harder to get them through college than they otherwise might. Everyone feels the burden, including the universities that get the unfair task of keeping tuition costs down.
