Washington Policy Watch

Focusing scarce public resources on students from the lowest-income families is a reasonable policy choice, but the long term disinvestment in higher education by both the state and federal governments has clearly limited college access for low income and middle class students. As the cost of attending college continues to escalate, more and more students and their families – not just those classified as low-income – are truly struggling to afford higher education.

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Filed under: education, state economy, tax and budget, budget, business, college, economic security, family, higher education, income, inequality, k-12, middle class, public policy, school, university, washington state

Low-income state residents are not the only ones whose dreams of higher education are thwarted by rising tuition. While schools have at least attempted to off-set some of the rising costs for low-income students, middle-income students and their families, particularly those who fall just above the cutoffs for most benefits, end up being hit hard. According to Patrick Callan, an expert on higher education financing and President of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, “there is no example of this [high-tuition/high-aid] model that doesn’t squeeze the middle very hard.”

Lawmakers in Ohio are taking a closer look  at tuition hikes at Indiana University and Purdue University for that very reason, asking:

…boards of trustees at the schools to meet again soon and lower — or even eliminate — the tuition increases they recently approved for the next two years. (More: Indy Star)

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Filed under: education, state economy, tax and budget, budget, business, college, economic security, family, higher education, income, inequality, k-12, middle class, public policy, school, university, washington state