So if the number of non-white families increased, and if their incomes were lower than those of white families, wouldn’t that mean average household income would decrease?
For there to be a greater number of college students with below-average family incomes, there would have to be a disproportionate number of college students from that below average income group compared to the above average group. That’s why I asked about a demographic shift.
Yes, the wealth gap is (depressingly) sticky, but you seem to be assuming that as historically disadvantaged populations grow as a percentage of the population that you won’t have a number of households in those populations also gaining wealth.
I’m neither an economist nor a sociologist, so I don’t know if that’s a warranted assumption or not, but I am a social scientist, and so would like to see the evidence for that premise before accepting it as the basis for a prediction.
I think there are more opportunities for urban students to go to college while working than ever before. In denver there is Metro, a large (25k students) campus, plus a lot of community colleges around the metro area. High school students can attend for no cost (schools pay, or there are funds) so they can get quite a few credits before they graduate hs. There are also a lot of funds available to low income hs grads (sales tax revenue).
If they want to go to college, they can. They can’t go to one of the ‘name’ university without the grades and getting funding, but they can go in the metro areas, to one of the state colleges around the state, or online.
This is not universal. I live in a high cost region, and the urban students who work and go to school part time either need a supportive family (i.e. free place to live) or are prepared to take 7-8 years to finish a BA. Paying rent and food on a minimum wage salary AND tuition (even modest tuition at a CC, books still cost money, lab fees, etc.) would be impossible.
There are very limited funds available for low income HS grads…
And the wise state elders made the decision to put the flagship in a rural area, NOT near the urban population centers… so it is very, very difficult to work your way through the flagship, and the satellite campuses have very limited majors (think elementary ed, accounting, communications, NOT engineering, urban planning, life sciences…)
Big country.
Your state doesnt give state grants to low income students attending college or community college if they meet some basic criteria like top third of class or gpa? I believe the current sum is $5300 per semester in Texas.
Free community college AFTER Pell has been applied, only first time college students eligible (i.e. if you’ve done DE you are no longer eligible-- a downside to the dual enrollment mania on CC).
You’re on your own after your associates degree. And not every part of the state has a commutable community college…
I’m reacting to this line-"If they want to go to college, they can. "
It should read, “If you want an Associates degree and your family will let you live at home, you can.”
Perhaps it may have less to do with race / ethnicity than the increasing level of income / weath inequality and the inheritance of such.
Many low-income Pennsylvania students also have no affordable options for bachelor or even associate degrees. Pell and state grants will cover tuition costs and public transportation costs for poor urban students at community colleges; this works if they can live at home rent free. However, there are rural students with no community colleges within commuting distance. Even suburban students may have no public transportation available (and may not be able to afford to buy and maintain a reliable used car). Obtaining a bachelor’s degree is even more difficult, as neither PASSHE schools nor the state-related universities come close to meeting full need.
The state of Michigan does not have programs that cover the cost of college for students. State aid is limited. Even if it were free, rural students are not necessarily within driving distance of a community college … cars are needed to drive … even if urban students are “near” a community college, the lack of public transportation makes getting there difficult. Internet / reliable internet is not available in many areas of the state. It’s easy to say that there is an affordable college option for everyone, but reality is that there is not. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but if it’s not even acknowledged, there is no hope for a solution.
That has little to do with the colleges that are closing, but I felt the need to weigh in on the conversation.
As far as colleges closing goes … I attended a meeting of AACRAO in 1987, where I listened to a very respected demographer discuss the fact that we would be where we are today … due in large part to a rapidly declining birth rate. He encouraged colleges to plan accordingly, but colleges’ boards seem to think that their schools will magically avoid reality. A lot of schools seem surprised by the difficulty they are having getting the enrollment numbers they want. What they should have been doing was being honest about the enrollment they could realistically achieve given the declining birth rate.
I got the impression that state aid increased a lot with the new program in Michigan this year for families with EFC under $25,000. It starts for this graduating class. I think it’s up to $5500 grants which isn’t going to pay for a flagship but would help for a local school if one exists. Some people in that program would also be pell grant eligible.
They also have a pretty cool free community college program for people 25 and over but don’t know the details on that.
The issue of rural access remains though.
I think many (if not most) have been, but more so in internal-facing communications than external-facing ones, and so those issues appear to have come as a surprise when the institutions have known themselves that they were building for a good long while.
And often, these closings or mergers or similar occur after years of work to stave off such an eventuality—and that work is sometimes successful, but those of us looking from the outside usually only see (notice?) the results when it’s unsuccessful, so there’s the possibility that whatever’s the conceptual opposite of survivorship bias is messing with our discussions here.
I’ve been on the inside at a couple schools. At least where I was, there seemed to be a feeling that “we” could beat the odds. I wasn’t at a place where it was too late, though, so I’m not sure when that conversation actually begins.
Yes, but … it’s a step in the right direction but not as strong as the programs in other states. I do like that there is good coverage for costs associated with associate degrees and career prep programs.
Please let’s get back on topic.
Kings college in NYC heading for closure
…what happened 15 years ago to cause that bump, I wonder? The financial crisis?
In any event, the bump looks like an anomaly to a decrease that’s been unfolding over the past several decades.
I can’t read the article without paying, but I can address the bump in student population in 2008. When the financial crisis hit, there were numerous programs put in place that assisted tremendously with covering college costs (full Pell for those who lost their jobs, full tuition for those affected by the loss of jobs to foreign competitors, expanded state programs) - and many adults went back to school. The school where I worked was swamped with students who were using jobless benefits to pay for school. That was a blip, though, and enrollment went back down when benefits dried up.
There’s also the fact that historically, college enrollment has been in a way countercyclical—if the economy’s so good that you can get a solid job without a college degree then college attendance is disincentivized, but if the economy is bad then college attendance both delays the necessity of workforce entry and leads to an additional credential that might be helpful.
The softness in the job market in the wake of the 2008 downturn led, similarly, to a bump in enrollments. (The pandemic downturn was weird for lots of reasons, and so you don’t get a similar result.) The job market right now is incredibly hot, and so we really shouldn’t be surprised that college enrollments are soft.
The link I was referring to is to a Wikipedia article showing population demographics. Here’s the link again: Demographics of the United States - Wikipedia
It seems to show a bump in the number of babies born 15 years ago. I guess it could be for similar reasons to what you explained? People out of work due to the financial crisis and maybe deciding on a different direction?
In any event, I suspect I’m a little off topic here. Just thought it was interesting….
