Letters & Op-Eds

Letters to the Editor
Boston Globe

To the Editor:

Your article got it wrong on why colleges are worked up about Congress’s proposal on college cost (“U.S. bid to keep tabs on tuition irks colleges,” Aug. 16).

The proposal has little to do with ranking colleges in a public image building contest. It has everything to do with de facto price controls.

Congress would insert itself into the middle of each college’s pricing decisions, stripping boards of trustees at private and public institutions of their independence and responsibilities to students. At thousands of colleges, Congress and the U.S. Department at Education would walk into a trustees meeting and take permanent seats at the table.

The proposal would require that colleges whose prices exceed a federally imposed formula to provide a detailed report to the U.S. Secretary of Education, create a “Quality-Efficiency Task Force,” develop a management plan, develop an action plan, and face the threat of being placed on “affordability alert status” and go under audit review by the U.S. Inspector General.

Colleges will face a choice between two equally onerous options. The first is keeping tuition increases at federally prescribed levels and complying with federal price controls, regardless of the impact on institutional aid budgets for low- and middle-income families and the quality of the educational experience. The second is to succumb to federal oversight.

Our institutions are already required to report comprehensive data on price, student aid, and countless other indicators to the U.S. Department of Education. Before imposing further unfunded mandates on college, Congress needs to work with ED to ensure that this consumer information is effectively packaged and widely publicized. We support this goal.

The needs of students and the dynamics of the higher education marketplace, not federal intrusion into campus management decisions, are what should drive the decisions of college trustees.

Sincerely,

David L. Warren
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
 

Letters to the Editor
Boston Globe

To the Editor:

Jeff Jacoby would not pass a class in introductory higher education economics or 20th-century American history (“Making college affordable,” February 10).

Every piece of empirical evidence that exists—from the U.S. Department of Education, independent consultants, and higher education economists—debunks the urban legend that increases in federal student aid drive up college tuition. In fact, a study by Coopers and Lybrand found that as the level of Pell Grant funding increased, the rate of tuition increases slowed.

The financial assistance that private colleges give students through institutional aid programs is massive. In 2002-03, students at private colleges (which enroll the same percentage of Pell Grant recipients as public four-year institutions) received more than four times as much grant aid--$11 billion—from their institutions as from the federal government.

These institutional aid budgets grew more than twice as fast as tuition in the past decade, (197 percent to 86 percent, respectively), helping to control increases in student out-of-pocket costs.

A recent U.S. Department of Education study showed that the average amount that full-time undergraduates at private institutions paid in tuition after receiving grants did not increase from 1992 to 1999, after adjusting for inflation. In fact, it decreased by $100.

The groundbreaking G.I. Bill and Higher Education Act have proven the power of federal student aid has to promote college opportunity, social mobility, and the nation’s economic development. In the past 60 years, millions of Americans from all walks of life have earned college degrees because of the opportunities provided by the federal investment in student aid.

An investment in student aid is an investment in the improvement of our society. With each college graduate we see a society less burdened by crime, welfare, and poverty. An investment in students is an investment in the solution to those problems for all of us.

Our knowledge-based economy demands more college graduates. Our nation’s security rests on scientific and technological innovation. The number of low-income college-age students is beginning to skyrocket. Our nation cannot afford to return to the days when family income determined where, and if, you went to college. The moral and social fabric of America is strengthened when all students have equal opportunity to attend the institution that best serves their needs.

More—not less—support of federal student aid by our nation’s policymakers and opinion leaders will keep America strong and healthy.

Sincerely,

David L. Warren
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

Letters to the Editor
New York Times

To the Editor:

It is an urban legend that colleges and universities are not doing their part to encourage students to register and vote (“Barriers to Student Voting,” September 28). The Times’ claim that institutions are not giving students opportunities to fully engage in the electoral process bears no resemblance to the real activities under way on college campuses. Visit a college campus during the next few weeks, and observe the opportunities to register and engage in civic life and participatory democracy. You will find a level of involvement unmatched elsewhere in society, and dramatically at odds with your conclusion.

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities conducted a survey of our 930 member institutions last week, which found dramatically different results than the Harvard Institute of Politics/Chronicle of Higher Education study. More than 450 institutions responded to our blind survey. Fully 95 percent have undertaken a campus-wide voter registration effort. A survey by the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers—the people on campus directly responsible for following the HEA mandate—found that 99 percent of institutions are making various efforts to promote voter registration. (AACRAO’s survey results can be read at http://www.aacrao.org/federal_relations/position/miller.htm.)

In fact, higher education institutions across the nation are going far beyond the letter of the law. A wealth of examples is available at http://www.naicu.edu/VoteVoice2004/activities.htm.

Colleges and universities are currently engaged in campus-wide voter registration, education, and motivation activities, as the school year gets under way and America focuses on the election. They have distributed forms to students in registration and orientation packets; voter registration drives are under way in student unions and residence halls; administrators are sending voter registration information and web links to all campus e-mail accounts; political speakers, issue forums, and mock debates are filling campus calendars; and students are bringing polling places to campus.

Since 1996 (two federal election cycles before registration efforts were required by law), the National Campus Voter Registration Project has given public and private institutions across the United States information and tools for registering students, educating them about the issues and candidates, and getting them to the polls on Election Day. In 2004 alone, this project—a nonpartisan effort sponsored by NAICU and 47 other major Washington-based higher education associations—has distributed 15,000 copies of its guide for voter registration and engagement to every institution in the nation.

Through the ambitious efforts of colleges and universities and our partner organizations, such as Rock the Vote and Youth Vote, millions of students have registered for the first time. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 87 percent of all college students registered to vote in 2000—a rate that is significantly higher than the general population. All indications are that as many, if not more, will register in this election.

Sincerely,

David L. Warren
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Washington, DC

Letters to the Editor
Chronicle of Higher Education

To the Editor:

Any study that makes sweeping generalizations about the nation’s 1,600 independent colleges and universities, based on responses from a mere 107 of them, deserves to be met with deep skepticism (“Many Colleges Fall Short on Registering Student Voters,” September 17). The Chronicle’s charge that great numbers of private institutions are complacent about fostering good citizenship through electoral participation, and are out of compliance with federal law, is not only incorrect but irresponsible.

NAICU conducted a quick survey of our nearly 1,000 member institutions, to check the validity of the Chronicle’s survey. In just three days, 367 responded to our blind survey. Ninety-five percent are in compliance with the federal voter registration mandate.

In fact, they are going far beyond the letter of the law. Private colleges and universities are currently engaged in campus-wide voter registration, education, and motivation activities, as classes begin and America focuses on the election. They have distributed voter registration forms to students in class registration and freshmen orientation packets; voter registration drives are under way in student unions and residence halls; administrators are sending voter registration information and web links to all campus e-mail accounts; political speakers, issue forums, and mock debates are filling campus calendars; and students are bringing polling places to campus.

Since 1996 (two election cycles before registration efforts were required by law), the National Campus Voter Registration Project has given public and private institutions across the United States information and tools for registering students, educating them about the issues and candidates, and getting them to the polls on Election Day. In 2004 alone, this project—a nonpartisan effort sponsored by 48 major Washington-based higher education associations—has distributed 15,000 copies of its guide for voter registration and engagement to every institution in the nation.

Through the ambitious efforts of colleges and universities and our partner organizations, such as Rock the Vote and Youth Vote, millions of students have registered for the first time. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 87 percent of college students registered to vote in 2000, and 78 percent voted in the last election—rates that are significantly higher than the general population.

Visit a college campus during the next few weeks, and observe the opportunities to register and engage in civic life and participatory democracy. You will find a level of involvement unmatched elsewhere in society, and dramatically at odds with the findings of your study.

Sincerely,

David L. Warren
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Washington, DC

To the Editor:

Re: “Colleges Have Little Incentive to Hold Down Costs,” July 18

Private colleges and universities must be market-smart and mission-driven to survive and succeed. They have a major incentive to hold down operating costs, keep net tuition (sticker prices minus grant aid) in check, and maintain their value to consumers. A marketplace made up of 3,700 colleges and universities competes for students who place the value received for their tuition dollars above all else. While president of Ohio Wesleyan University from 1984 to 1993, I saw consumer focus shift away from quality to value, as annual double-digit inflation increases became common at private and public institutions. College presidents around the nation will agree that this attitude still prevails.

Those double-digit tuition increases are rare today, as private institutions control costs by adopting business practices. These include targeted reductions that streamline operations, outsourcing of campus services, collaborations with other institutions that leverage purchasing power and reduce administrative and academic redundancy, and the implementation of environmentally friendly systems that reduce energy consumption.

These measures, combined with a 197 percent increase in the amount of institutionally provided grant aid over the past decade, have had remarkable results. Student aid has grown more than twice as fast as tuition increases over the last decade. Moreover, out-of-pocket costs paid by students have actually dropped by an inflation-adjusted $100, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The fierce competition among private colleges and universities, and with public and for-profit institutions, has demanded flexibility and ingenuity on the part of presidents. They have taken steps such as tuition reductions, freezes, and guarantees; tuition bartering; four-year graduation and employment guarantees; a national private college 529 savings plan; accelerated degree programs; policies that replace loans with grants for low-income and working families; and substantial increases in student aid budgets.

Combined with Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study, and other vital federal student aid programs, state grants, and private support, these institutional initiatives have given millions of students the opportunity to choose the college that best serves their needs. The commitment of these partners will give the coming wave of first-generation, needy students a chance at a better life. Far from driving up the cost of college, increases in federal student aid help temper tuition increases at private institutions.

With more families than ever worried about college costs, America’s private colleges and universities are committed to safeguarding their value by maintaining access, affordability, and quality for students from all backgrounds.

Sincerely,

David L. Warren
President
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Washington, DC