Education is impossible without writing college homework papers. A student's progress is about enhancing and maintaining knowledge Poverty And College Affordability Essay through constant Poverty And College Affordability Essay studying, both in class and at home. The number of tasks may vary greatly from subject to subject/10() · A consensus has clearly emerged that higher education affordability needs to be addressed by colleges and universities, states, and the federal government. Less clear is how to address the problem, and perhaps more fundamentally, how to decide what affordability means Historic Investments in College Affordability. Since taking office in , the Obama Administration has taken strong action to counteract the rising cost of higher education, expanding Pell Grants and making student debt more manageable by expanding loan repayment options that cap payments based on income. Putting in place the largest investment in higher education funding since the GI bill, the
Essay on Cheaper College Tuition - Words | Bartleby
College affordability is a complicated and multi-faceted challenge. The price students and families are asked to pay has steadily increased over the past several decades, despite the existence of federal, state, and institutional grant programs, which are often not sufficient to fill the gap in need.
We need to make college affordable by focusing on the student first—not on what tuition is, not on what aid is available—but on the student experience. Affordability should be defined by what is reasonable to expect students and their families to contribute toward their education, and this information should be shared with them in clear and predictable ways.
We need action on the part of states, institutions, and policymakers at all levels to make this a reality. The steps laid out here by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation are clear, cogent, and compelling action items that every institutional leader should take seriously.
Well-resourced institutions, in particular, should move forward quickly to implement these action items as evidence of their commitment to truly reshaping their practices in a way that benefit low-income students.
Ultimately, we need a better system of financing postsecondary education that frames affordability in a way that is clear and predictable, built around a defined benefit, and based on a reasonable contribution of resources available to students and families, college affordability essay. The burgeoning path to a better reality for students has been made clear by this well-researched work—if college affordability essay take these recommendations seriously, more students would likely enroll college affordability essay college and be financially successful while there.
Zakiya Smith Strategy Director, Lumina Foundation Former Senior Adviser for Education college affordability essay the Obama White House. College can seem out of reach for many low-income students. Too often they believe college is unaffordable and unattainable. Low-income students may lack understanding of how financial aid works, or perceive they are unable to meet the full costs of higher education, college affordability essay.
While state and federal funding can help to offset college costs, low-income students often are unaware that institutional aid can significantly lower costs and in some cases make college absolutely free. Institutional aid could potentially play college affordability essay much more important role in increasing access and persistence among low-income students, if these gaps in knowledge were removed. Colleges and universities have a role to play in educating low-income students about how to pay for college.
This brief offers 11 best practices to institutions to help students pay for college and stay in school. These strategies are organized into three categories: clarifying financial information, easing the financial burden, and filling in financial aid gaps. Specifically, college affordability essay, we discuss how schools can provide students with better information to help them make more informed choices, to make going to college more affordable, college affordability essay, and to understand how financial aid programs work so that college affordability essay can maximize the aid they receive.
The federal government has recognized that students have the right to data that can help them make the best decision regarding their education, college affordability essay. However, this information is disseminated in various ways that are not always the most user-friendly for the individual student.
Some facts are distributed to all enrolled and prospective students or are available online to everyone, college affordability essay, while others are available only upon request, or sent out in publications and mailings, college affordability essay. Sadly, the information provided is often a confusing mess, and low-income students — often sorting through the data without a seasoned counselor at their side — must navigate these puzzles on their own. Information that is only available upon request or through selected mailings puts low-income college affordability essay at a disadvantage.
Students may not be aware that the data even exist, much less that college affordability essay should be seeking these figures. Lack of understandable information puts low-income students at a disadvantage, and they may incorrectly conclude that a college education is simply unattainable or may enter college without a full understanding of how to navigate the many financial aid programs, and ultimately drop out.
Schools should transparently provide all college affordability essay with the relevant knowledge needed to make the best decisions about their education and paying for it. Schools can proactively support low-income students by providing clear, comprehensive information to all students, regardless of whether it is requested.
This includes providing students with the most accurate figures available related to costs, financial aid, and student success, as outlined in our first five strategies below. Accompanying many offers of admission is a financial aid award letter.
These letters often use acronyms and abbreviations, and they may lump together scholarships and loans in ways that are difficult for students and families to understand. To address these issues and help families make more informed decisions about college, the U. This form was designed to simplify information regarding cost and financial aid and allow students to easily compare institutions. Elements of this form include:. In an open letter to college and university presidents, the Department of Education asked institutions to adopt this form for the —14 school year.
As of January3, institutions — including 60 selective institutions — have obliged. Department of Education website. More schools are using this form every college affordability essay. Schools should at the very least use it as a template to clarify the elements of their financial aid so students can compare offers. Unexpected rises in tuition can derail students, particularly those who may already be struggling financially to stay in school.
Simply informing potential students that tuition prices may increase is not sufficient. While schools cannot be expected to know the exact tuition costs of future years, schools can project potential increases in tuition to help students make informed decisions and prepare for the next four to six years.
Giving students an idea of the price of education for the duration of their schooling can allow students to budget and plan for potential tuition increases well in advance. Some schools have begun offering this information on their financial aid websites. Other schools can adopt college affordability essay best practices:. Supplying future cost estimates is useful for students as they explore various colleges. Figure 1: FAFSA Text Reminder from the Common App. The most direct way would be by including these requirements in the same envelope with their financial aid award letters, but not all schools choose this option.
Instead, schools frequently make this information available through publications or online. Once students are enrolled, institutions should remind them periodically of requirements and deadlines.
FAFSA completion is important for maintaining various forms of aid. Students are not always aware that FAFSA must be completed annually in order to continue receiving need-based aid. Schools should remind students of specific FAFSA deadlines. Transmitting reminders about financial aid deadlines would benefit many who would otherwise drop out, college affordability essay. Half of all undergraduates 50 percent live off campus, while the remainder live on campus or at home.
However, estimating off campus housing costs can be challenging, resulting in dramatic variation of estimates of off-campus living costs among colleges, college affordability essay, even between colleges in the same city, college affordability essay. Underestimationof living expenses can mean insufficient financial aid; overestimation can lead to students borrowing more money than they need.
Many schools survey students to obtain information on living costs. College affordability essay surveys do not accurately estimate costs, because they capture what students are spending as opposed to what they need to spend. When estimating off-campus living expenses, schools should use standardized information or validate student-reported information with standardized data, such as data from the U.
Department of Housing and Urban Development, U. Department of Agriculture Food Plans, and the U. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The significance of this information is too important to get wrong. Relatively few students have even college affordability essay knowledge about financial aid.
Schools should encourage or require students to meet with a financial aid adviser before signing off on financial aid packages to ensure students understand their packages and make informed financial decisions. One study of financial aid recipients found that when students sought financial aid advising, they found it useful. Some processes that ostensibly help facilitate approval of grants are problematic.
For example, there are online systems that allow students to sign off on their financial aid packages without fully examining or understanding them. Parents should not be allowed to consent to burdens imposed on their children.
As noted, rising college costs can make higher education seemingly unattainable for low-income students. They are more likely to forgo higher education entirely due to perceived financial constraints. For high performing, low-income students, this may mean sacrificing selectivity. Once enrolled in college, low-income students are more likely to leave without obtaining a degree.
Insufficient funds to meet basic needs and the requirement to work while in school contribute to the increased rate of attrition. Schools can help to ease the burden of financial stress and support low-income students in multiple ways, outlined in strategies 6 through 9 below.
Over the last 20 years there has been a shift towards merit-based scholarships and away from need-based aid. Inthe majority of institutional award dollars were need-based.
Non-need-based aid, such as merit scholarships, is likely to attract students who can afford to pay for college. It also attracts students who are at the top of their class. In other words, wealthier students may be getting more aid than they need, while low-income students are unable to meet even their minimum financial requirements, college affordability essay.
A study by Postsecondary Education Opportunity suggests that students from lower-income families had greater unmet need than their higher income peers. Institutional aid is an important source of financial aid, particularly among students attending private institutions see Figure 2. Closer examination of private colleges and universities shows varying practices in institutional aid.
At the lowest-priced private institutions, low-income students actually receive less institutional aid than students from higher-income families, because of the merit aid awarded to high-income students.
Unsurprisingly, at the highest-priced institutions, low-income students, on average, receive almost double the institutional aid than students from the highest income quartile see Figure 3. Additionally, high-income students are significantly more likely to obtain funding that exceeds their need see Table 1, college affordability essay. Almost half 45 percent of students from the highest-income brackets that attended private institutions received grant aid beyond what their need dictates.
College affordability essay 2: Sources of Grant Aid for Full-Time Undergraduates,by Type of Institution, — Figure 3: Institutional Grant Aid by Tuition Level and Family Income at Private Nonprofit Four-Year Institutions, — Table 1: Percentages of Full-Time Full-Year Students Receiving Grants and Grant Aid Exceeding Need, Students entering college may assume that grant funds will be stable college affordability essay their college years.
Private scholarships can help students meet unmet need and reduce debt. Many students seek such scholarships to make college more affordable and to avoid taking loans. However, displacement of institutional aid undermines the purpose of private scholarships as the net price is not decreased and college does not become more affordable. In a survey of their scholarship recipients, college affordability essay, the Dell Scholars program found that 60 percent of scholarship recipients were adversely affected by award displacement.
Scholarships should supplement institutional aid, rather than supplant it. The cost of academic materials such as textbooks may place a burden on students with unmet financial need. Students may be forced to go without textbooks or purchase textbooks and make other sacrifices in return.
Why College Is So Expensive In America
, time: 18:05Free Essays on College Affordability
· A consensus has clearly emerged that higher education affordability needs to be addressed by colleges and universities, states, and the federal government. Less clear is how to address the problem, and perhaps more fundamentally, how to decide what affordability means Historic Investments in College Affordability. Since taking office in , the Obama Administration has taken strong action to counteract the rising cost of higher education, expanding Pell Grants and making student debt more manageable by expanding loan repayment options that cap payments based on income. Putting in place the largest investment in higher education funding since the GI bill, the · Essay. This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers. With the growing importance that people attach to a college education, there is a need to examine the effect of college tuition and the affordability of the same. By understanding the relationship between the college tuition and the quality of education, the society would have an understanding of the role of college
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