Most young adults in Pennsylvania have
found their higher-education options to be expensive but affordable
even as the cost of attendance rises, according to a report being
released this week.
Fewer than one in 12 high-school graduates in the state between the
ages of 18 and 34 reported that high tuition prevented them from
enrolling in college or forced them to drop out before earning a
degree, according to the findings of a telephone survey conducted last
fall.
The report on survey results and other research findings is called "A
Rising Tide: The Current State of Higher Education in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania." The study was directed by Robert M. Zemsky, chairman
of the Learning Alliance for Higher Education at the University of
Pennsylvania, in response to questions from state officials and others
about who is being served by the state's colleges.
The study found that geography, ethnicity, and academic preparation
were more significant factors in determining who attended college than
rising tuition. That reality, the report said, "ought to give pause to
those who believe American higher education has a cost crisis or that
the tuitions that colleges and universities charge are thwarting the
opportunities of young people in large numbers."
In an interview, Mr. Zemsky said that, given the limited effects of
rising costs on denying access to higher education, state and college
officials should find ways to more precisely help the small group of
potential students who do truly find costs to be a barrier and to
encourage college participation among groups who are less likely to
attend postsecondary education.
. . .
"Any time we move away from targeted assistance, we are essentially
wasting our money in terms of increasing participation," Mr. Zemsky
said. "Lowering the price for everybody includes a lot a people who
don't need" the help.
He said he became curious about how unaffordable college had become
when he saw that Pennsylvania had received a B for college
participation in the 2004 national report card for higher education
released by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
At the same time, the state received an F for affordability.
If enrollments are increasing, Mr. Zemsky argued, then, by definition,
more and more people are finding ways to afford college. When something
is unaffordable, people cannot or will not purchase it.
