Responses

             The article “State Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality” shows that my state, North Carolina, has decreased state spending by 17.3% per student between 2008 and 2018 (Mitchell, Leachman, & Saenz, 2019). That was roughly $2,000 per student and while not the highest, they are not one of the small few who did any increasing. The article claims this is due to the Great Recession that took place in 2008, where much funding was cut for schools. Somehow that has never been recovered though. Then there is tuition, which continues to increase steadily. North Carolina has seen a whopping 45.9% increase in tuition. Funding has been cut and tuition has increased drastically leaving students wondering if higher education is financially smart when all is said and done. This is really where it gets interesting because North Carolina’s tuition is reported to be about 20% of a white family’s income but closer to 30% of African American and Hispanic families. This makes it even more difficult for Black and Hispanic students to even have access to try to further their education and improve their careers, keeping them in the same situations as their family before them. A possible strategy to be able to afford college tuition is really difficult because quite frankly it starts with better funding and lower tuition fees. Institutions aren’t even getting properly funded and are being forced to raise tuition prices to keep up. They can budget their efforts to ensure there isn’t useless spending or that they aren’t overstaffed, but truthfully, it begins with better funding.

Sources

McClellan, M.J.B.G. S. (2017). Budgets and Financial Management in Higher Education. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119287766/

Mitchell, M., Leachman, M., & Saenz, M. (2019). State Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students, Worsened Inequality. (CBPP). cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students

Valaree Discussion:

I really don’t know where I am headed in my career or where I want to end up, so for now, I researched Michigan, which is where I currently reside. 

In Michigan, the funding has decreased by 14.8 percent, which averages out to approximately $898 per student. The state ranks 30.8% in average tuition and presents a $3,075 change in average tuition at public, four-year institutions. This is an increase of about $300 in average tuition. According to this article, the impact of decreased funding for Black and Hispanic/Latino students is evident in the difficulty of these students maintaining “economic stability, paying rent, saving for emergencies, investing” (Mitchell et al., 2019). A study showed that for first-time college students in 2004, 37% of Black and 20% of Hispanic students entered default within 12 years. 

The future impact of decreased access for Black and Hispanic/Latino students is evident in obtaining validated careers after graduation. If they are unable to continue school, then they remain unqualified and in a competitive world. The opportunity for the success of education and of a future career puts these ethnicities at a great disadvantage. 

A possible budgetary strategy to increase college affordability and access is funding based on college success. For instance, if retention rates, graduation rates, etc. are appropriate and meeting the expectations with accreditation, this would warrant institutional funding. Another option is verification in admissions with percentage rates of diversity enrollments. The American Council on Education expresses the diversity in admissions falls under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1965. This can ultimately prove colleges successful in that they have less litigation and increased student resources. 

Diversity in Admissions. (n.d.). American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/Policy-Advocacy/Pages/Law-Courts/Diversity-in-Admissions.aspx

Mitchell, M., Leachman, M., & Saenz, M. (2019, November 15). State Higher Education Funding Cuts Have Pushed Costs to Students,. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students