The 91探花moved from #4 to #1 on the Sierra Club’s 5th annual ranking of . The survey questions sent to over 900 four year institutions focus on environmental goals and achievements in ten areas (energy supply, efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments, and other).
Although ranked #1, there is still room for improvement as the 91探花still scored only an 81.5, earning an B- grade from the Sierra Club.
has released a showing average student debt versus average income across all fifty states, as well as categorizing institutions they have identified as the most expensive and the 鈥榖est values鈥�. 聽The 91探花comes in as the public institution in the nation for 2010-11.
The map illustrates that Washington state students have a relatively low debt to income ratio: Average student debt is between $15,000 and $20,000, while average income is around $40,000 to $50,000, with about 61 percent of all students in the state taking out loans. Utah boasts the smallest amount of debt per student (under $15,000), while New Hampshire has the highest average debt load (over $25,000 per student).
These state level data are consistent with our most recent 91探花data. In 2009-10, 50 percent of all 91探花undergraduates borrowed and their average cumulative debt was $19,500. Although these figures are lower than the national average, they have increased over the last several years, especially as state funding cuts have necessitated tuition increases. This is why the 91探花Board of Regents to substantially increase the UW鈥檚 commitment to financial aid for resident undergraduate students starting this fall.
Note that Kiplinger also shows that students appear to be increasing their use of credit cards while in college, with 84 percent of students holding at least one credit card and half of all students holding four or more. The mean credit card balance was a record $3,173.
If the US House and Senate approve the debt deal that the Obama Administration and Congressional leaders seem to have worked out over the weekend, the Pell Grant Program will . Although PELL had been targeted for significant cuts, the deal leaves the current maximum grant at $5,550, and retains the in-school interest subsidy for graduate student loans.
Note that future cuts are still possible, especially if the number of eligible students continues to grow, increasing significantly the cost of the program. But, for now, the bipartisan support to leave the program largely untouched is encouraging. Make sure to follow frequent updates on the debt deal, federal budget negotiations and other relevant federal activity on the .
The recently released a report titled The report claims that, although California is considered the world’s leader in public higher education, the state鈥檚 college and university system is closer to average鈥攁nd may be declining.
The report uses six measures of higher education quality and access鈥攑reparation, affordability, participation, completion, benefits, and finance鈥攖o measure California鈥檚 performance in relation to other states. Their findings, if correct, are troubling:
The report urges California鈥檚 government to protect their investment in colleges and universities, long considered the best public higher education system in the world. Furthermore, it cautions policymakers not to be blinded by the stand-out performances of a select few California universities, while ignoring the vast majority of California鈥檚 higher education institutions that may be struggling.
As the for-profit higher education industry continues to , states are starting to pay more attention to the fast growing sector. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reports that, as of May, twenty states have introduced at least 34 bills aimed at regulating or supporting for-profit higher education. NCSL reports that eight of these bills have already passed, six have failed or been vetoed, and twenty remain in play. They provide a of each piece of legislation, as well as a that centralizes information on this topic from various sources.
Meanwhile, Senator Harkin continues to the sector, and a 10 state into the practices of for-profit institutions remains ongoing. It appears that one result of all this scrutiny is that the industry has been pressured to begin to take preemptive action toward and increased .
For previous OPBlog posts on this topic see:
As of July 15, all 91探花Global Challenge State Peers had approved resident undergraduate tuition increases for the upcoming 2011鈥�12 academic year. See the latest for details.
Despite implementing a 20 percent tuition increase for resident undergraduates, the 91探花, which has consistently ranked as the least expensive among the GCS peers, will continue to rank in the bottom third of the peer group in 2011鈥�12.
A new study, released by the sheds light on enrollment patterns before, during, and after the Great Recession. According to the , enrollment increased steadily from 2006 to 2009, and then decreased by 1.6 percent in 2010. The authors attribute this finding largely to a decrease in state funding for institutions, which led to significant tuition increases at many public colleges causing some middle-income families reevaluate their higher education plans.
In the West specifically, where 90 percent of students are enrolled at public colleges and universities, enrollment dropped from 467,000 students in 2009 to 455,000 in 2010. Interestingly, the West has the highest proportion of students at community colleges, with 50.8 percent attending public two-years. Furthermore, Western public four-year universities had the highest rates of retention and persistence in their region (retention being the percentage of freshmen that return to the institution the next fall, and persistence the percentage that continue their education at some higher education institution the next year), with rates of 73 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
For a more detailed discussion of the findings and limitations of the study, the .
A survey carried out by The Chronicle in conjunction with Moody鈥檚 Investor Service shows college CFO鈥檚 are about future economic prospects for their institutions. The survey included 480 responses from CFO鈥檚 of public and private four-year and public two-year, nonprofit institutions. In the face of slow economic recovery from the recession, 32 percent of all CFO鈥檚 reported being more optimistic about the general U.S. economy, and 39 percent felt more optimistic about the financial prospects of their own institutions than they did a year ago.聽 Among聽 public four-year CFO鈥檚, these percentages were markedly higher, with 42 percent more optimistic in general and 45 percent more optimistic for their specific institution. Further highlights from the report included:
Despite the slow growth of the economy and high unemployment, some economic indicators are proving encouraging to higher education institutions鈥攍ow interest rates facilitate borrowing, the stock market is up, and demand is higher than ever (83 percent of public-four years reported meeting or exceeding their enrollment targets this year). Additionally, philanthropic support is still a major component of university budgets, and most institutions plan to keep it that way, with only 12 percent of CFO鈥檚 planning to lower their annual giving goals.
Another survey by showed college business officers a bit more optimistic.聽 52 percent of the business officers surveyed claimed their institutions were in good financial health, and 17 percent asserted they were in excellent health. Though most see no immediate financial emergency, 66 percent believe that potential cuts in core state funding or operating support would have a major impact on their institution鈥檚 quality. As in the 颁丑谤辞苍颈肠濒别鈥檚 survey, most cited securing higher enrollment and more philanthropic support as being integral to future funding. Interestingly, 27 percent claimed they would have to lay off employees in the coming year鈥攁s opposed to 19 percent in the 颁丑谤辞苍颈肠濒别鈥檚 survey.
Please follow the hyperlinks to read the full and , as well as the and of their results.
The National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) has published their .
The new report, based on 2009-10 survey data, shows that while state support for institutions has fallen rapidly for several years, many states have increased their commitment to students via financial aid. On average, state spending on financial aid increased 3.8 percent between 2008-09 and 2009-10. For many states, increases in financial aid were necessary to help maintain student access as steep budget cuts for institutions necessitated significant increases in tuition.
Note that the survey does not contextualize increases in spending on financial aid with tuition increases, nor does it specifically address changes in financial need for students during the Great Recession. Inside Higher Ed addresses some of these issues in their on the survey.
The survey also shows that while most state spending on financial aid continues to be in the form of need-based grants ($8.9 of $10.8 billion was spent in the form of grants), state spending on merit-based or mixed merit and need based financial aid programs continues to increase. The survey shows that 47 percent of all state aid to undergraduates is need-based, while 18 percent is merit-based, and 35 percent is tied to programs with both need and merit-based components.