The Challenge of College Affordability

New data shows that two-thirds of college seniors who graduated in 2011 had an average student loan debt of $26,600, which was a 5 percent increase from the previous graduating class. This continuous upward trend has persisted despite the tripling of Federal grant aid and constant dollars over the past decade. A report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers warned that public higher education, which educates 70 percent of the students in this country, is about to cross an historic threshold. For the first time ever, students will pay a higher percentage of operating costs of public universities than State governments. In 2012, net tuition revenue made up 47 percent of public colleges' educational costs. By comparison, in 2001, tuition was 29 percent of the costs. We've learned that first student spending from State and local sources fell to less than $5,900 in 2012, a 9 percent decrease just from the year before, and a quarter century low for the third consecutive year. The implications for affordability of this cost shifting is obvious: As States continue retrenching from their historic responsibility as primary supporters of public higher education, students and their families are asked to shoulder an ever-growing burden of cost.