By: Karen Farkas
The rising cost of going to college and increasing student debt is due more to decreases in state funding than bloated administrative spending and salaries, according to a new report, reports Inside Higher Ed.
Ohio received an overall grade of “F” in its support for public institutions, said theYoung Invincibles organization, which released report cards gauging each state’s investment in higher education.
It received F’s for spending per student – cutting funding per student by 27 percent in the last five years; the burden placed on families since tuition covers 62 percent of the cost of college compared to the national average of 47 percent; state aid to students; and education as a state priority, since only 4.1 percent of state expenditures went to higher education in 2012, an 18 percent decrease since 2010.
Ohio received a D+ for average tuition at state schools. Average tuition is $9,190. The averages student debt load is $18,879, the report card said.
Ohio was one of 11 states that received four or more F grades on the five possible measures, under the organization’s methodology, which assessed states not only on their relative levels of support but on the trend lines up or down, Inside Higher Ed reported. Only 14 states received an overall grade of B- or better.
The goal of the Student Impact Project is to pressure state leaders to reverse the disinvestment.
“State legislators should act immediately to reprioritize higher education and make investment decisions that increase access to higher education, enhance financial security for this generation, and ultimately grow state economies,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of Young Invincibles.
“It’s great that an organization representing students is out there with a pretty ambitious project and initiative to generate greater visibility about the connection between state funding and college affordability,” said Daniel Hurley, associate vice president for government relations and state policy at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Day of learning offered by CWRU: Case Western Reserve University will offer “A Day at the University,” to allow people to explore a variety of educational programs in its lifelong learning program.
People can explore dark matter, see how 3D printing is revolutionizing industry and learn about Cleveland’s past and future.
The program, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 6 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, is presented by the Laura and Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program.
Registration is $95 and information is available at siegallifelonglearning.org/a-day-at-the-university.html.
Participants can choose up to four lectures to attend over the course of the day, with professors presenting topics from a broad range of areas and disciplines, including a special sequence of sessions addressing the theme, “The Past, Present and Future of Cleveland’s Cultural Landscape.”
Lectures cover a range of subjects and disciplines, including: the origins of World War I, Islam in America, current law on same-sex marriage, and Toni Morrison’s writing on race and gender.