College in WA and across the US becoming unaffordable

By Evan Rohar

The New York Times published an article yesterday entitled "College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S." It detailed a bleak report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and quickly become the most emailed article on the New York Times website. The report states that net costs for college (tuition + fees + room & board - financial aid) as a percentage of family income have risen dramatically over the past decade. Furthermore,

"The share of income required to pay for college, even with financial aid, has been growing especially fast for lower-income families, the report found.

"Among the poorest families — those with incomes in the lowest 20 percent — the net cost of a year at a public university was 55 percent of median income, up from 39 percent in 1999-2000. At community colleges, long seen as a safety net, that cost was 49 percent of the poorest families’ median income last year, up from 40 percent in 1999-2000." (12/3/08)

Enrollment in college has continued to grow, but this is only because families and students have been taking on an enormous amount of debt. With the loan market continuing to deteriorate and an unwillingness by the legislators to even consider giving direct federal loans, college will become inaccessible to many if nothing is done. Workers 25-34 years old are already less-educated than older workers.

The situation in Washington State is no better than the national picture. The Seattle Times wrote yesterday that "poor and working-class families in Washington must spend 36 percent of their income, in addition to financial aid, to pay for tuition at a two-year college" ("Study says Washington colleges flunk affordability", 12/3/08). It is becoming more and more clear that our state's budget must not be balanced through cuts to education, services, and health care.