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Financial Aid Rises Alongside College Prices

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The College Board released its 2010 Trends in College Pricing report this week. The report made a large public splash amidst heightened concern about college prices during the economic crisis. The report’s data and conclusions were presented and dissected from many different perspectives, including: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Inside Higher Ed, and The Chronicle.

The full report is worth reading, but some of the highlights include the following:

  • Over the past decade, tuition sticker prices increased, on average, 5.6% per year at public four year institutions. Note that in the 1990’s when state funding levels were high, tuition increased more slowly, while cuts to state funding in the last decade have led to rapid increases.
  • On average, state appropriations per FTE declined by 9% in 2008-09, and by another 5% in 2009-10.
  • In 2009-10, state appropriations per student were 19% lower than they were a decade earlier.
  • Over 47% of all students enrolled in a four year institution (public or private) face published prices of less than $8,999 per year. Only 13% are enrolled in an institution with a published price of over $30,000 per year.
  • In 2010-11, the average student at a public four year institution received $6,100 in grant aid and tax benefits, and Only 1/3rd of college students pay the published tuition and fee rates.
  • Due to historic increases in Federal Pell Grants and increased institutional aid, the average net price paid by students was actually less than the net price paid in 2005-06. Note that students and families who receive little or  grant or tax aid are paying significantly more than they were in 2005-06.

While college costs continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation, which is especially concerning when family incomes are losing ground, the data show that federal, state and institutional grant and tax aid have had a powerful effect on the net cost of college. In fact, many students with financial need are paying less today than they were 5 years ago.

In addition to illustrating the striking role that financial aid is playing in college affordability, the report also highlights the dramatic decline in state support for public institutions, which are operating with almost 20% less state funding per student than they were a decade ago, despite state approval of larger than normal tuition increases.

Ultimately, the costs of public higher education are being shifted from the states to the students and families who are paying higher tuition, and to the federal government, which is providing increasing levels of financial aid.

Expect further detailed analysis of this report and how the College Board’s findings apply to the UW soon.

Berkeley Report Provides Roadmap for ‘Smart Growth’ in Higher Ed

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John Aubrey Douglass of UC Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education has issued a new report on the current status of higher education, and potential paths for growth and change into the future.

In Re-Imagining California Higher Education, Douglass argues that the existing model for higher education in California (here representative of higher education in states across the US) has changed only incrementally over recent decades and is ill suited, due primarily to the combination of declining per student funding and increased enrollment, to meet the near-term demands of the economy, much less US stated goals of dramatically increased participation and attainment for the future.

Douglass proposes that California boldy reimagine its higher education system by building on the existing strengths of its current tripartite system (two year community colleges, the four-year California State system, and the four-year UC research institutions). Among his proposals:

  • An expanded community college sector that includes a set of institutions offering four year degrees and a set of institutions with a more explicit ‘transfer focus’.
  • A new poli-technic institution sector that focuses on applied degrees in science, engineering and technology.
  • A new online ‘open university’ that focuses on adult and/or placebound learners in California.
  • Increased focus on international recruitment to attract funding dollars and top talent to the state.
  • Increased focus on partnering with the federal government in funding institutions beyond basic research and financial aid to students.

With arguably the best– and certainly the largest– public higher education system in the country, if not world, the old saying ‘So goes California, so goes the nation’ comes to mind while reading Douglass’ report.

New Book Places College Cost Debate in Larger Context

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Two economists at the College of William and Mary have published a new book called ‘Why Does College Cost So Much?‘ In a co-authored op-ed published by Inside Higher Ed, Archibald and Feldman explain that their book is an attempt to largely dispel commonly asserted narratives that blame rising college costs on a particular set of actors (the government, the administration, the faculty, or even students and families) who have created institutional dysfunction that must be targeted for reform.

Instead of these often politicized arguments, they attempt to examine the higher education industry in the context of the American economy with the basic assumption that economic forces acting on and reshaping other industries might also be applicable to higher education. The authors focus particularly on the role of technology in reducing the costs of manufactured goods and agricultural products, but not services.

We look forward to reading this new addition to the literature.

Will Expanded Higher Ed Tax Credit be Made Permanent?

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The federal Recovery Act of 2009 included a two year expanded higher education tax credit (based on the existing Hope Tax Credit). The new American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) maxes out at $2,500, can be redeemed for up to four years, is partially refundable (up to 40%), and eligibility does not start to phase out until joint household income reaches $160,000 per year. Overall, the AOTC is a much more inclusive and expansive tax credit when compared to the existing and permanent Hope and Lifetime credits.

A new report from the US Department of the Treasury provides details on the AOTC benefits provided to Americans during 2009 and 2010. They find that The AOTC has been a great help to families across the nation facing larger than normal tuition increases as state higher education budgets have been cut deeply.

  • 12.5 million students/families received a higher ed tax incentive in 2009.
  • AOTC increased total tax incentives for higher ed by over 90%, from $9.6b in 2008 to $18.2b in 2009.
  • AOTC recipients got an average tax credit of $1,700, a 75% increase over the average credit received via the Hope or Lifetime credits in 2008.
  • 4.5 million students and families were able to take advantage of the new refundable status of the AOTC, receiving an average of $800 that they would not have previously qualified for.

The AOTC is set to expire next year. The Obama administration has called for Congress to make the expanded credit permanent (at an estimated cost of $58 billion over 10 years). Visit the Federal Relations website, and keep up with their Federal Report for news of any action that Congress may take on this issue in the coming weeks and months, and keep an eye on the OPB website and blog for news about what changes in these tax credits might mean for UW students and their families.

Britain Rethinks Higher Ed Financing

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While some may be expanding public investment in higher education, the US is not alone in wondering how to maintain globally competitive institutions while significantly increasing student access in the face of diminishing public resources. A British panel headed by Lord John Browne released a long anticipated report, Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education, which outlines Britain’s higher education goals, assesses the ability of the existing system to meet them, and proposes a new financing model that shifts the cost away from taxpayers and toward the graduates themselves.

The debate about higher education as primarily a public or private good is a familiar one in the US, where shifting the costs from the state to students has been a decades long trend. British institutions only introduced student fees in the early 90’s, and since 2006, British institutions have been allowed to charge a maximum of  £3,000 ($4,800) per year to supplement government funding. If Britain were to implement the report’s recommendations to slash government funding by 82%  and remove the cap on student fees, British higher education would not only catch up, but surpass the US in terms of the public/private split in higher education funding. However, note that loan repayment terms in Britain are much more flexible than in the US.

Some of the primary components of the proposal include:

  • The institutions shall set fees competitively.
  • The Government will front the cost of attendance via student loans.
  • These loans will be paid back after graduation, but not unless or until the student is making more than £21,000 per year.
  • The interest charged will only be high enough to cover the Government’s cost of making the loans.
  • The student’s monthly loan payment will be based on earnings.
  • All outstanding loan amounts will be forgiven after 30 years of payments.

Because the Government is taking on the risk in this model, they propose that institutions face a government levy of 40-90% on any fees charged above £6,000 to discourage needless fee increases.

Such a dramatic increase in the cost of higher education for British citizens is alarming to many. However, proponents note that as many as 20% of students might never have to repay the loans due to low income, and that many others will pay less than the total amount owed. Concerns remain, however, for those who believe in the concept of ‘sticker shock‘, wherein a lower income student is deterred from attending an institution due to the high sticker price, even if financing options may dramatically reduce the overall cost. Still others, including in the humanities and social sciences, are concerned about the differential treatment of medical and other STEM related education fields, which would continue to receive government investment.

Public Sector Workers Paid Less Than Private Sector Counterparts

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As the economic crisis has continued to batter state budgets across the nation, the compensation of public employees has become a hot button issue for citizens, politicians, and the media. However, the Economic Policy Institute has released a statistical analysis that shows that, after controlling for education, experience, hours worked, organizational size and personal characteristics, state and local government employees are compensated 3.75 percent less than their private sector counterparts (1.8% less for local government employees and 7.6% less for state employees).

The September 2010 EPI Briefing Paper Debunking the Myth of the Overcompensated Public Employee, by Dr. Jeffrey Keefe, uses federal compensation data to analyze differences in total compensation packages for comparable public and private sector employees. Note that the analysis did not include federal workers. Among Keefe’s findings:

  • College-educated public employees cost more than 20% less than similarly educated private sector  employees.
  • Less educated public employees (high school diploma or less) are paid slightly more than private sector employees.
  • Public employees receive a higher portion of their compensation in the form of benefits.
  • After controlling for education, experience, and personal characteristics, an overall compensation differential of 6% is narrowed to 3.7% after accounting for the fact that private sector employees work more hours.

As the public and elected officials debate potential state budget cuts, it is important to contextualize issues such as the pay, benefits, and job security of our public workforce within available data, and to ensure that we are always comparing apples to apples by controlling for the different mix of jobs in both the public and private sector. Keefe’s analysis is a valuable contribution to the discussion.

Increasing Support for Higher Ed not a Taxpayer Priority

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The Pew Center on the States teamed up with the Public Policy Institute of California to assess taxpayer attitudes toward state government, budget cuts, and funding priorities during the Great Recession. The survey was conducted in five states– Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois and New York– , which, together, comprise 1/3rd of the nation’s population, 1/3rd of the nation’s output, and almost 45 percent of the total projected state budget gaps for 2011.

The resulting report, Facing Facts: Public Attitudes and Fiscal Realities in Five Stressed States, highlights surprising similarities across the five states where respondents, in general, agreed on the following points:

  • That state government could deliver the same services with fewer resources (even up to 10-20% less).
  • That state government is untrustworthy and could be more effective.
  • That taxes on the wealthy, corporations and particular goods or behaviors like alcohol, smoking and gambling are favored.
  • That state governments are relying too heavily on borrowing money.
  • That K-12 Education and Health and Human Services are seen as the most essential services worth protecting, even if general tax increases are required.

Notably, survey respondents were significantly less likely (by 20-30 percent) to support tax increases to protect higher education than they were to protect K-12 education. These results seem to confirm that while providing a K-12 education is seen as a public obligation, a college education is seen as less essential and something that the student and family should help pay for.

The mere presence of tuition in the funding model for public higher education might also be affecting how citizens view increasing taxpayer support to institutions. Tuition simultaneously provides a reason to believe that universities can better handle state budget cuts because they can raise money elsewhere, and provides a visible and increasing price tag that frustrates citizens who think that this represents inefficiency.

These survey results are consistent with recent polling in Washington.

CA to Vote on Budget that would Restore Some UC Funding

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The California State Legislature is set  to vote on the budget for FY10-11 (current fiscal year) today; 99 days after the start of the fiscal year.  Based on negotiations among the gang of five (governor and majority and minority leaders from senate and assembly) the budget should pass.

The starting problem for California was a $17.9 billion shortfall, To ‘solve’ this problem the state did the following:

  • Expenditure Reductions  -$7.5
  • Use of one time Federal Funds  $5.3
  • Additional Revenues $2.5
  • Fund Shifts, Other Revenues  $2.8
  • Alternative Funding $0.5
  • Baseline Workload Adjustments -$0.2
  • Total Solutions $18.3
  • Final Reserve $0.4

The $18 billion deficit represents ~20 percent of the state’s $87.5 billion general fund, compared to an estimated 2011-2013 biennial shortfall in Washington State of $4.5 billion, ~14 percent of a $31 billion biennial budget (pre mid-year cuts in FY 11).

One area California chose not to reduce was its university systems.  The University of California received an increase of $370 million in new state funding – an increase of 14 percent over their FY10 state funding base of $2.6 billion.  The funding is broken out as follows:

  • $199m in permanent dollars as a start of restoring the base
  • $106m in temporary funds (with a stated goal of converting these to permanent funds)
  • $51m in permanent funds for new enrollment
  • $14m in permanent funds for health benefit cost increases

While one could argue that this California budget proposal is based on overly optimistic revenue projections, it is clear that they have made a loud statement on the importance of their public universities.

National Academies Continue to Sound Alarm Bell on Competitiveness of Research U’s

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The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine have sponsored an update to their consequential 2005 report entitled Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. The latest version is called Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5, and can be read online free of charge.

The new report highlights America’s relative decline in global competitiveness by presenting statistics on patent awards, research publications, employer surveys, and student achievement levels in math and science, among other things. While recognizing current economic constraints, the report calls for major investment in and reform of K-12 education, as well as a doubling of the federal basic-research budget to help restore and maintain US competitiveness in the global economy.

One action Congress can take immediately is to reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, which was passed in 2007 largely as a result of the 2005 Gathering Storm report. This Act received one-time federal stimulus funding in 2009, and is set to expire this year without Congressional action. The UW Office of Federal Relations provides regular updates on their blog regarding the Act’s progress in Congress.

In addition to this report, The National Research Council, at the request of Congress, has created the Committee on Research Universities, a panel of business and higher education leaders, to identify the “top ten actions that Congress, the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st century.”

The Committee held its inaugural meeting on September 22nd, and is scheduled to meet again in late November.

State Budget Deficits Continue To Grow Across US

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As the UW works to address the recent 6.3% across the board state budget reduction for Fiscal Year 2011 ($17.1 million for the UW) ordered by Governor Gregoire last week, other states across the country also continue to struggle with growing state budget deficits.

While the recession may have technically ended in June 2009, the pace of recovery has been nonexistent or slow for state budgets that continue to experience reduced revenue collections in the face of continuing high levels of unemployment. For good continuing coverage on how the Great Recession continues to wreak havoc on state budgets, visit the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ frequently updated report on State budget cuts.

As we analyze and reconcile these new cuts for 2011, and prepare for the upcoming legislative session where additional cuts seem likely for the 2011-13 biennium, we will keep you updated on the likely impacts for the University.