A new, independent report card flunks America’s colleges in a key subject for many students and parents: affordability.
While noting progress in areas such as student preparation, the biennial study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education drops the country to an “F” in affordability from the “D” it received in the nonprofit group’s report two years ago.
Among individual states, only California, Utah and Minnesota earned higher than a “D.” California still had the top grade of any state, but its “A” from 2002 fell to a “B” in the latest report after sharp tuition increases.
The report card evaluates states on the performance of their private and public four-year schools and community colleges in five categories, with grades ranging from “A” to “F.”
On affordability, the report card contradicts some recent studies that argue increases in financial aid have kept pace with recent tuition hikes, so real college costs have stabilized.
David Breneman, dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and an adviser on the report, said the combination of higher prices and a population boom among college-age people is likely to bump students from four-year colleges to more affordable community colleges, and from community colleges out of the system.
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