Can community colleges save students from debt bondage?

Posted Oct 29th 2007 6:55PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Personal Finance

Soaring college costs are making headlines almost daily, it seems, and a Reuters piece begins with the heart-wrenching story of a 22-year old so overburdened with tuition that she must borrow textbooks from friends.

There is a lot of work to be done on the policy side to make it easier for kids to afford college. According to the piece, "The average student at public universities get $3,600 in grants and tax benefits; at private universities, $9,300, according to the College Board."

Here's a question: If a student can afford the tuition at a private college ($23,712 compared to $6,185 for a public school, assuming no grants), should we even provide those students with tax credits? I would argue that, in order to qualify for tax credits, college students should have to demonstrate that they are choosing a value-oriented school. Just as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't get involved with mortgages over $417,000, Uncle Sam shouldn't dole out tax credits to students who can spend $40,000 a year on college.

Another way that students can save money: Doing the first two years at a community college. My local community college advertises the cost savings associated with this approach.

Do we need government policy changes to make it easier for students to afford college? Probably. But more of an emphasis needs to be placed on the responsibility of students and their parents to take steps to control the cost of college for themselves.

Tags: College, Community Colleges, CommunityColleges, University

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-30-2007 @ 6:40AM

Hendrick said...

That is a horrible idea! That means that poor children could never go to a top school. Consider that all 20 of the top 20 universities are private schools according to US News & WR.

I've gone to both a public (University of Michigan) and a private university. I can earnestly say that you really get what you pay for. At the public university, I often had 300-person classes that were taught by grad students. At the private university, I never had a class with over 20 students.

Grants are given on a need basis. How would it make sense to not give grants to students at private schools? The majority of private school students need those grants to go to school.

I have several friends--myself included--that came from poor families and had the privilege of getting grants and Stafford loans to cover our education. All of us gladly chose the best school over the cheaper school even with the knowledge that our loans would be tripled or quadrupled. In the long-run, our income potential is likely 3 or more times what we would have had going to a worse school. Most of us ended up going for our MD, MBA, JD, or Ph.D. and the school we came from made a big difference on our application.