The Real Price of College: College Completion Series: Part Two

The high price of college is the subject of media headlines, policy debates, and dinner table conversations because of its implications for educational opportunities, student and family pocketbooks, and the economy. Some people caution against giving too much weight to the advertised price of a college education, pointing out that the availability of financial aid means that college is not as expensive as people think it is. But they overlook a substantial problem: for many students, the real price of college is much higher than what recruitment literature, conventional wisdom, and even official statistics convey. Our research indicates that the current approach to higher education financing too often leaves low-income students facing unexpected, and sometimes untenable, expenses.Financial challenges are a consistent predictor of non-completion in higher education, and they are becoming more severe over time. Unexpected costs, even those that might appear modest in size, can derail students from families lacking financial cushions, and even those with greater family resources. Improving college completion rates requires both lowering the real price of attending college -- the student's remaining total costs, including tuition, books, and living expenses, after financial aid -- to better align with students' and families' ability to pay, and providing accurate information to help them plan to cover the real price of college.Many policymakers argue that bringing the personal and public benefits of higher education to an expanded population of Americans is important for the economy and to address inequality. Financial aid policies, they assume, help those with scarce resources to earn their degrees. But these policies often fall short, and when students have difficulty paying for college, they are more likely to focus their energies on working and raising funds rather than studying and attending classes, and are less likely to complete their degrees

President Obama’s free community-college plan is a necessary plan – and a good one.

Last week, President Obama announced that community college will be made free for all students for the first two years of study. Sara Goldrick-Rab welcomes the announcement, which will be especially helpful for less affluent families who spend a large proportion of their family income on college. She writes that the next steps in improving college affordability should include making the first two years of college free at four-year colleges and universities, increases in per-student funding, and coverage of students’ living expenses, books, and supplies

Beyond the Food Pantry: Supporting #RealCollege Students During COVID-19

Colleges and universities across the United States and around the world are scrambling to keep their students, faculty, and staff healthy, safe, and educated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As experts on the daily crises that derail #RealCollege students and prevent them from completing their degrees our team at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice offers the following considerations and resources to support your work

Promoting Academic Momentum at Community Colleges: Challenges and Opportunities

The expansion of the American community college has not been matched by the rapid, or even consistent, progress of all entering students toward postsecondary credentials. Instead, a significant proportion of students enrolled in community colleges appear "stuck" on the road to completion. This lack of progress is due to the complex ways in which social and educational inequalities affect specific students and the institutions of higher education designated to serve them. As a result, policymakers and practitioners face significant challenges in their efforts to promote academic momentum. In the first part of this literature review, the sources of these challenges are located in student characteristics as well as in state and institutional practices and policies. It is argued that there exists an interaction of sorts between the actions of community colleges and the attributes of their students. Acknowledging the myriad complexities in efforts to improve the progress of all two-year students toward goal or degree completion, the second part of this paper examines empirical research to identify opportunities for improvement

NEPC Review: The Effects of School Vouchers on College Enrollment: Experimental Evidence from New York City

This report examines college enrollment rates of students participating in an experimental New York School Choice Scholarships Foundation Program, which in the spring of 1997 offered 3-year scholarships worth up to $1,400 annually to low-income families. The study identifies no overall impacts of the voucher offer, but the authors report and emphasize large positive impacts for African American students, including increases in college attendance, full-time enrollment, and attendance at private, selective institutions of higher education. This strong focus on positive impacts for a single subgroup of students is not warranted. There are no statistically significant differences in the estimated impact for African-Americans as compared to other students; there is important but unmentioned measurement error in the dependent variables (college attendance outcomes) affecting the precision of those estimates and likely moving at least some of them out of the realm of statistical significance; the authors fail to demonstrate any estimated negative effects that could help explain the average null results; and there are previously existing differences between the African-American treatment and control groups on factors known to matter for college attendance (e.g., parental education). Contrary to the report’s claim, the evidence presented suggests that in this New York City program, school vouchers did not improve college enrollment rates among all students or even among a selected subgroup of students

NEPC Review: Measuring and Understanding Education Advocacy

This report uses two methodological innovations to measure the impact of advocacy groups on education reform policy, Surveys with Placebo (SwP) and Critical Path Analysis (CPA). SwP is designed to measure the influence of advocacy groups and CPA to identify which tactics were successful in influencing reform. The report finds them to be effective methods for achieving these goals. It finds that coordination of advocacy groups strengthens their impact and that the perceived impact of advocacy groups tracks closely with policy outcomes. While we agree that the SwP and CPA may be useful in education policy research, these methods are more limited than the report acknowledges. Moreover, the research is a small case study of three states, with a low response rate for the SwP and CPA based on advocacy groups&rsquo; self-reported tactics. The report also fails to give sufficient information on the responses to the SwP and the selection of the advocacy groups studied to assess the usefulness of methods and validity of the report&rsquo;s conclusions. Finally, there is not a strong connection between the evidence presented in the report and its conclusions. We therefore caution against adoption of the methods or reliance on the conclusions presented in this report without significant further research.</p

Completion Grants: A Multi-Method Examination of Institutional Practice

Public universities are intent on increasing degree completion for many reasons. A stronger policy focus on completion and interest in removing students’ financial hurdles has led to a rapid proliferation of completion grant programs. This paper reports on a mixed method implementation study of completion grant programs at seven broad- and open-access universities. Drawing on case studies of completion grant programs and student surveys, we examine the work of the administrators and professionals who create and implement these programs. As it can diminish program efficacy and increase inequality, we pay particular attention to administrative burden for staff and students. We consider how the implementation of completion grant programs vary and how these variations are associated with administrative burden. We also analyze the drivers of variation in that administrative burden, and describe model elements for administering completion grants that aim to minimize administrative burden and maximize efficacy

Too Distressed to Learn? Mental Health Among Community College Students

A new study at 10 community colleges across the nation reveals that half of the more than 4,000 community college students surveyed are experiencing a current or recent mental health condition. Less than half of these students are receiving any mental health services. Students age 25 and younger are especially likely to have an untreated mental health condition. As mental illness can impair academic success and quality of life, there is a clear need for greater attention to and resources for mental health services and programs on community college campuses

College Students and SNAP: The New Face of Food Insecurity in the United States

Over the last decade, multiple studies of food insecurity among college students have found rates from 20% to more than 50%, considerably higher than the 12% rate for the entire US population. Reasons for higher rates of food insecurity among college students include a growing population of low-income college students, high college costs and insufficient financial aid, more financial hardship among many low- and moderate-income families, a weak labor market for part-time workers, declining per capita college resources, and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) policies that specifically exclude many college students from participation. This essay reviews the causes and consequences of food insecurity on campus, explores reasons for the low SNAP participation rate, and describes how campuses have responded to food insecurity. It summarizes federal, state, and local changes in SNAP policies that can facilitate college student participation and retention and suggests strategies for more robust and effective university responses to food insecurity,including SNAP enrollment campaigns, a stronger role for campus food services, and a redefinition of the goals and purposes of campus food pantries