Study faults most states on higher education affordability

[Herman Munster]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/09/07/study_faults_most_states_on_higher_education_affordability/

An independent report on higher education flunks most states when it comes to affordability. It gives better, but still mixed, grades in other areas, such as participation and completion rates.

Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts The biennial study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education evaluates how well higher education is serving the public -- and leaves little doubt where the system is failing. Forty-three states received F's for affordability, up from 36 two years ago. The others got D's, except Utah and California, both of which eked out C's.

The report card uses a range of measurements to give states grades, from A to F, on the performance of their public and private colleges. The affordability grade is based on what percentage of the average family's income it costs to go to college.

That figure is up almost everywhere, even accounting for financial aid, which has risen, but not as fast as tuition. In Ohio, public four-year colleges cost 42 percent of the average family's paycheck, up from 28 percent in the early 1990s. In New Jersey, costs have risen from 24 percent to 37 percent, and in Oregon from 25 percent to 36 percent.