Lake Houston - Humble - Kingwood Edition | September 2022

STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and private colleges has nearly tripled. Meanwhile, although Pell Grants once covered nearly 80% of the cost of four-year public college degrees for students from working families, they now only cover one-third.

Costly tuition While in–ation plays a role in the rising cost of attending college, Voll- rath noted two additional factors have led to rising tuition rates. According to Vollrath, rich econo- mies such as the U.S. tend to see faster rates of in–ation for services such as education and health care when com- pared to manufactured goods because the cost of producing those goods diminishes over time. Vollrath said the second contrib- uting factor has been a decrease in ƒnancial support from state govern- ments. Between 2008-18, state spend- ing for higher education in Texas dropped from $9,256 per student to $7,107—a 23.3% decrease, according to data provided by the Center on Bud- get and Policy Priorities. “We’re getting around half the money we thought we might have been getting 20-30 years ago, and you have to account for it, so that ends up getting unloaded on the students usu- ally,” Vollrath said. During that same time frame, the average cost of tuition at public, four- year colleges in Texas increased by $2,302, or 30.4%, CBPP data shows. However, Vollrath said he did not think the blame should be directed solely at declining state contributions to higher education. “I think there are deƒnitely things you can talk about on the university side,” he said, speaking generally about public colleges. “Why are uni- versities paying for things that seem to drive up tuition that don’t seem to contribute towards the baseline of educating students?” Plan basics As outlined in an Aug. 24 news release from the White House, Biden’s three-part plan will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by

Public four-year university cost*

Maximum Pell Grant value**

$2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000 $12,000 $14,000 $16,000 $18,000 $10,000 $20,000 $22,000 $24,000

In 1980-81, Pell Grants covered nearly 80% of the cost of four-year public college degrees.

In 2020-21, Pell Grants covered one-third of the cost of four-year public college degrees.

0

1980-81

1990-91

2000-01

2010-11

2020-21

*INCLUDES TUITION, REQUIRED FEES, BOOKS AND SUPPLIES, AND AVERAGE COST FOR ROOM, BOARD AND OTHER EXPENSES **TYPICALLY ONLY AWARDED TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WHO DISPLAY EXCEPTIONAL FINANCIAL NEED AND HAVE NOT EARNED A BACHELOR’S, GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL DEGREE; DO NOT HAVE TO BE REPAID EXCEPT UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES

SOURCES: COLLEGE BOARD, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION‹COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

FILING FOR FORGIVENESS The U.S. Department of Education is planning to launch an application for student loan forgiveness in early October. Those interested can sign up to be noti€ed of application availability at www.ed.gov/subscriptions . WHO IS ELIGIBLE? • Individuals whose annual income falls below $125,000 • Married couples whose annual income falls below $250,000 WHO NEEDS TO APPLY?

• Students who €iled a 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid do not need to take any action. • Students who did not €ile a 2021-22 FASFA will need to complete a short application by Dec. 31 . Once a borrower competes the application, relief can be expected within 4-6 weeks .

HOW MUCH ARE THEY ELIGIBLE FOR? • Pell Grant recipients who meet the income threshold are eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation. • Non-Pell Grant recipients who meet the income threshold are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation.

For more information, visit www.studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement.

SOURCE: FEDERAL STUDENT AID‹COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

and 2021-22 school years, while the average annual cost of tuition for ƒrst-year students at the University of Houston has increased by 21% within the same time frame. To provide relief, President Joe Biden announced a plan Aug. 24 that will enable roughly 43 million Ameri- cans to have up to $20,000 in federal student loans forgiven.

Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, said while she supports the plan, it fails to address the root cause. “Everybody talks about the stu- dent loan crisis, and it exists, but it’s a symptom—not the problem,” May- otte said. “The problem is the cost of higher education, and this plan does nothing to address that.”

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the Lake Houston area, data shows just over 151,000 people age 18 and older have at least some college expe- rience, or roughly 64.5% of the local population aged 18 and older. Locally, the cost of tuition for 24 credit hours at Lone Star College has increased by 23% between the 2012-13

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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM

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