Affordability and Value in Higher Education
The traditional financial model of higher education is broken. College affordability is one of the most significant issues affecting higher education, and the Covid-19 pandemic magnified its impact. The high cost of obtaining a college degree disproportionately leaves underserved students with limited access to postsecondary education. Affordability is often a reason why many leave college without a degree, often with student loan debt.
Postsecondary education can and should be affordable for all learners, but it has . With the average increase in the annual cost of college outpacing the growth of family income or state investment, affordable higher education has become more of an unrealized dream than a reality for far too many. As evidence, , with the . Meanwhile, to , with over 44 million Americans holding debt incurred as a student.
The Cost of Higher Education
The national statistics are sobering. Annually, the United States produces nearly 2 million bachelor鈥檚 degrees鈥攁nd an estimated 1 million student loan defaults. As a result, student loans have become a financial albatross around the necks of millions of Americans, leading to , , and . Policymakers have increasingly recognized the importance of accessible aid as a potential solution. A recent spate of legislation across states would require high school students to to make college more accessible for students who qualify for federal aid.
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Not only does a college education cost more, but the time to complete a degree is increasing. For Black students, completion rates were 44 percent; for Hispanic students, 51 percent; and for Native Americans, 47 percent. Only one-third of learners 25 years and older complete their degrees, and estimates indicate that it may take as many as seven years to do so.
Noncompletion drives loan defaults, but completion isn鈥檛 a panacea: Analysis by the Center for American Progress shows that a dozen years after graduation, . Furthermore, the Postsecondary Value Commission found that after 10 years. Regardless of the cost, education is not affordable if it doesn鈥檛 lead students to opportunities鈥攅ven if the education is free to the student. Historically, rising tuition rates have been blamed on 鈥渃ost disease鈥濃�攖he idea that, without a technological enabler, the nature of higher education cost structures would always outpace inflation.
Making Higher Education Affordable
Mainstream higher education has been slow to employ technology to increase access, lower prices, and drive a student-centered model of education.
Higher education should be accessible to all, and affordability is a critical element of access. This perspective has led 黑料传送门 to adopt three keys that drive our operations and guide our innovation:
- Access and outcomes must be equitable.
- Completion rates must be on pace with our students鈥� aspirations (not just the traditional six-year pace).
- Return on investment for graduates must take into account not just what they paid but what their degrees allow them to earn.
Policymakers can support these three keys by supporting proposals that personalize borrowing, make tuition affordable, and reduce students鈥� time to degree.
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