The Misinformation About Financial Aid
Inaccurate perceptions about the cost of college often stand
in the way of economically disadvantaged students pursuing
a college degree.
By Dina M. Horwedel
The escalating cost of college tuition seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. Particularly concerned are low-income students, who are often adverse to taking out loans for fear of jeopardizing their own as well as their families,’ financial situation.
Experts say economically disadvantaged students of all races are worse off if the only aid they receive come in the form of student loans. Many students graduate only to face immediate and staggering loan debt. According to a study by the Project on Student Debt, high-level borrowing to fund higher education has grown much faster than low-level, or supplementary, borrowing.
But one huge barrier preventing low-income students from attending college is misinformation. The Tómas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) at the University of Southern California recently surveyed 400 Hispanic Californians between the ages of 18 and 24 about their perceptions of college financial aid. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents felt that college costs outweighed its benefits. But only a few of the respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University.
That finding illustrates one reason that Hispanic students are still under-represented in higher education, but the point applies across racial and ethnic lines: Traditional college-age people generally perceive college costs to be higher than they really are.
