One of the many challenges facing policymakers and higher education leaders is how to ensure that postsecondary degrees, as they become increasingly more important for our advanced economy and technological society, are affordable for all potential recipients.
This has been a major challenge as the increased demand for college degrees has put a strain on the college financing system and many of its disparate parts. According to Investopedia, a website dedicated to explaining the financial and capital systems within the United States, the federal government is now the guarantor of a majority of the student loan market, while many students and families are on the hook for monthly payments for the next decade or more.
These financial challenges influence several groups more acutely than others. Students of color and students from low-income backgrounds suffer the most when tuition and room-and-board costs rise. Either it becomes more expensive on the front end to find family support and non-loan financial aid, or it is more expensive on the back end when trying to deal with the economic impact of paying off loans.
This unfortunate reality leads to negative feelings and issues regarding college affordability for student groups that are chiefly responsible for improving the multicultural aspect of the collegiate experience, which is one that can be enriching for the entire campus community.
The twin tasks of addressing the college financing system and the potential withering of student diversity on campus provide an opportunity for those within higher education to set out on an ambitious goal to make college affordable again. This can be done through an all-in approach on multiculturalism, specifically through the lens of college financing.
According to The College Board, the average cost of tuition and room and board at public four-year institutions has increased a cumulative total of 27% over the last 10 years, from the 2008-2009 school year to the 2017-2018 school year. Put differently, a public college that cost roughly $16,000 annually in 2008 cost roughly $21,000 a year in 2017. That is a significant difference for families who may not have seen wages increase at that same rate during that same period of time.
For private institutions, the cumulative percentage increase is nearly identical. The College Board reports that the tuition and room and board increases over that same timeframe for private institutions is 22.5 percent, taking the average costs from $38,000 in 2008 to $47,000 in 2017. Should this trend continue, it could have a devastating impact on low-income families and families of color, and their prospects for college degrees due to the question of affordability.
