Letters & Op-Eds

Letters to the Editor
Investor’s Business Daily

To the Editor:

Re: “Aid in the Shade,” Editorial, July 15

It is an urban legend—embraced by several Washington policymakers—that increases in federal student aid drive up college tuition.

In fact, the only conclusion that can be drawn from research on higher education costs is this: Increases in federal student aid do not lead to increases in tuition. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, Coopers & Lybrand, and economists Michael McPherson and Morton Shapiro agree on this point.

The groundbreaking G.I. Bill and Higher Education Act proved the power that federal student aid could have on college opportunity, social mobility, and the nation’s economic development. During their lifetime, college graduates will out-earn those without a bachelor’s degree by more than $1 million. While the average federal debt of students graduating from four-year state and independent colleges in 2000 was about $16,000, it’s hard to imagine a better investment they could make.

As our knowledge-based economy demands more college graduates, and the percentage of low-income college-age students skyrockets, more—not less—support of federal student aid by our nation’s policymakers and opinion leaders will keep our nation strong and healthy.

Sincerely,

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

Letters to the Editor
Newsday

To the Editor:

After reading your recent series on college costs ("Paying for Progress," March 21; "The Financial Burden," March 22), the families of college-bound Long Islanders will be surprised by just how affordable independent (private, not-for-profit) colleges and universities are, and by the return these institutions offer on a family’s out-of-pocket cost.

First, higher education is well worth the collective investment that we as a nation, state, parents, and individuals make. Two in every five jobs created in the coming decade will require a college degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, individuals who earn a bachelor's degree will boost their lifetime earnings by nearly a $1 million over someone with a high school diploma, commanding nearly twice the annual income.

The return on investment to individuals and society is why independent colleges and universities are committed to making higher education accessible and affordable for all students, especially for those with modest incomes. In the past 10 years, college-funded grant and scholarship aid has grown by 197 percent, more than double the 86 percent increase in tuition.

Today eight in every ten dependent, full-time undergraduates enrolled in independent higher education received some form of financial assistance, with an average award of nearly $14,000. In New York State, independent colleges and universities provide $5.34 in college-funded financial aid for every $1 of state student assistance, for a total of $1.7 billion annually. The result: the average net tuition – “sticker” price minus grants and scholarships -- at independent colleges across the nation has actually declined by $100 over the past decade, once adjusted for inflation.

To reap the personal and public rewards of a college-educated work force, higher education funding must be a policy priority in Albany and in Washington. Since 1980, New York State institutionally provided grant aid has grown nearly four times the rate of federal and state grants. State legislators are currently considering the fate of a plan to cut the Tuition Assistance Program by a third. Congress is divided over whether to increase funding for the maximum Pell Grant award, or for programs that encourage states and institutions to provide more student aid, student loans, and federal work-study. Now is the time for families from Long Island and elsewhere to contact their elected representatives in support of student financial aid.

Visit www.cicu.org for information about bringing TAP back, and call the Student Aid Alliance hotline at 1-800-574-4AID to contact Congress in support of student aid programs. We must work together to make college a realistic and attainable goal for every New Yorker and all Americans.

Sincerely,
Abraham M. Lackman
President
Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities

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

Letters to the Editor
Christian Science Monitor

Re: "Who Speaks for Colleges Kids" editorial

To the Editor:

College students could very well play a key role in the upcoming primaries and general election (“Who Speaks for College Kids?,” editorial, Oct. 24, 2003). The views and issues that concern this ideologically diverse population warrant close watching by policymakers and candidates at all levels of government.

One of the most overlooked facts in American politics is that college students are more likely to register and vote than their non-college peers and the general population. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 87 percent of college students were registered to vote in 2000, and 78 percent voted in the last presidential election.

These statistics, and those from Harvard’s Institute of Politics, help to demythologize the stereotype of today’s college student as tuned out and politically unaware. Their attention has been significantly altered by dramatic events in recent years: the 9/11 attacks, the subsequent war on terrorism and in Iraq, the disputed presidential election, and furious protests against economic globalization. I have not seen college students this attuned to national and world events, and so active in their communities, since the 1960s.

According to recent polls, 85 percent of college students say they follow current events, 61 percent do volunteer work, and one in three participate in political rallies or demonstrations. More than 5 million college students gave an estimated 1.2 billion hours of community service in 2000.

My association has been active in bringing the National Campus Voter Registration Project and the CampusCares community service and engagement effort to institutions of higher education since the late 1990s. The deep commitment of America’s colleges and universities to foster good citizenship in tomorrow’s leaders has been matched by the energy and seriousness that this generation of college students brings to American civic life.

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

Letters to the Editor
Chronicle of Higher Education

To the Editor:

The Chronicle has gotten it wrong not once but twice regarding tuition (“Higher and Higher,” May 9).

First, contrary to the Chronicle’s report, the average rate of tuition increases at private colleges and universities is holding steady, not increasing. A recent NAICU survey finds that the average rate for 2003-04 is 5.8 percent, identical to the findings from our 2002-03 survey and the College Board’s figure that was published several months later. More than 250 institutions responded to our request for published tuition data, making it the most comprehensive summary of private college tuition trends currently available.

Secondly, private colleges have kept increases in their net tuition (students’ out-of-pocket tuition costs after grants and scholarships) under inflation over the last decade (17.3 percent vs. 18.7 percent, respectively), even while rises in tuition list price continue to outpace the Consumer Price Index.

The real tuition story this year is the remarkable, yet largely unheralded, ability of private colleges and universities to keep tuition increases in check, despite declining endowments, drops in fund raising, inadequate state and federal support for student aid, a spike in student financial need—and skyrocketing health, technology, and insurance costs.

The conclusion should be obvious; private colleges and universities are making great strides in controlling their costs, enhancing their efficiency, and giving students from all backgrounds a world-class academic experience at the lowest possible cost.

Low-income students who aspire for college risk being left behind unless the Bush administration and Congress immediately change course and significantly increase—not decrease or ignore—funding for the nation’s proven student aid programs.

It is a disservice to these low-income students and others when the media focus their attention solely on published tuition rates—rather than net tuition—and then compound the problem by misreporting the facts about these published rates.

Sincerely,

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

Letters to the Editor
Business Week

To the Editor:

To suggest that private colleges are in crisis is an exercise in journalistic hyperbole (“Colleges in Crisis,” April 28). Presidents and chief business officers at virtually every private college and university can tell a compelling story of the financial challenges they face in today’s declining economy, with the coming wave of low-income and minority students, and how their institutions have worked effectively to lower costs and improve operating efficiencies.

Since the last economic downturn a decade ago, private colleges and universities have redoubled their efforts to balance academic quality with student access and cost containment. The challenges facing higher education today require college leaders who are entrepreneurial, creative, and expert managers. During the early and mid ’90s, private institutions followed the example of corporate America, slicing off administrative fat and learning how to do more with less. To further control expenses, hundreds of private colleges and universities have deepened their involvement in cost-saving academic and administrative consortia, and outsourced more of their campus operations, including information technology and residential living.

As a result, private colleges and universities have kept annual tuition increases to about 5 percent in the past seven years, less than half the double-digit rates common during the last recession. And their enrollments continue to grow—the U.S. Department of Education projects that enrollment at private colleges will increase an average of 1.7 percent annually for the next 10 years. Yet they’re still providing the world’s best academic experience and an unparalleled commitment to educating all academically qualified students, regardless of background.

The commitment of private college and university presidents to cost containment and prudent management is meeting head-on the financial challenges facing American higher education. The idea that these institutions are in crisis fails to grasp their innovation, flexibility, and endurance.

Sincerely,

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