New Audio: Joni Finney on Higher Ed and the Economic Downturn

Penn GSE Practice Professor Joni Finney discusses the impact of the economic downturn on American colleges. Click here to listen to Dr. Finney on the state -- and the cost -- of American higher education on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Dr. Finney contributed to Measuring Up 2008, a recently released National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education report on the accessibility of higher education in America.

According to the report, which was based on data collected before the economic downturn, the United States is falling behind in college accessibility, threatening a long-standing educational advantage.

Says Dr. Finney, who also serves as vice president of the Center, "The report card focuses on what students and families have to pay. Affordability has declined in most states, and what students have to pay has jumped, not only the amount but the number of students who have to borrow."

Affordability was measured on the basis of the percentage of family income required for college, after financial aid.

From 1992 to 2007, the percentage of an average family's income needed to pay for a public four-year college rose from 20 to 28 percent and from nearly 20 to nearly 25 percent for community colleges.

"That's a great deal of money for institutions that once served as a safety net for American higher education, Dr. Finney observes.

During that period, college was less affordable in all states except New York and Tennessee. The highest increase were seen in  Arizona (from 50 to 79 percent), Missouri (44 to 69 percent), and Texas (42 to 67 percent).

Every state in the union, except California, was given a failing grade for college affordability. With its system of relatively low-cost community colleges, California received a C.

If left unaddressed, the researchers warn, the development will harm U.S. competitiveness in the near future. While some nations have been working to improve access to higher education in recent decades, America has seen rising college costs, an increasing rate of high-school drop-out, and continuing gaps in the success rates of students of different races, incomes, and states.

The full report is available at the Measuring Up 2008 website.

Media contact:  Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu