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More Room Needed at Colleges for Lower-Income Students

Paul R. Shelly, Director of Communications

Asbury Park Press

December 13, 2006

According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, "With few exceptions, it is now critical for individuals to attain some level of education beyond high school in order to experience a middle-class lifestyle and for the states in which they live to compete in the global economy."

With that in mind, it is nice to know that, based on U.S. Pell Grant data from 2004, New Jersey ranks first in the nation in college participation rates for students from low-income families.

That is good, but not enough to secure the future of New Jersey or any other state.  Here are reasons for concern:

While New Jersey, to its credit, is a national leader in need-based financial aid, it trails far behind most states in four-year public college/university enrollment capacity.  Therefore, although affordable education at a public baccalaureate institution is within reach, institutions cannot accommodate all applicants, low-income or otherwise.

As the recent New Jersey Policy Perspective Report "Flunking Out" by Mary E. Forsberg and Anastasia R. Mann puts it, "with an explosive increase in college-age New Jerseyans predicted, the state's current level of higher education funding assures that public and private institutions will fall short of accommodating the demand."

There are solutions to the problems of low-income student access to college and persistence through graduation.  For example, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a Washington policy advocacy group, suggests three steps:

Advocates from all sectors need to work harder to tell state policymakers about the adverse effects on low-income students of budget cuts and the consequences of failure to expand public college capacity.  Funding cuts, in particular, have been called the silent killer of low-income and minority enrollments.

While gaining access to college is key, once students enter college, they need to finish.  Pressure to pay for college contributes to low-income student dropout rates.  But if these students can stay in school and graduate with the help of financial aid, they will be better prepared for the requirements of the region's work force.

A statewide survey of 300 employers in July by Rutgers University's Heldrich Center observed "concern about the quality of their work force outpaces concerns over health insurance costs, taxes and other matters ..."

Because New Jersey lacks the capacity to educate all of its students with the required higher education to fill job openings here, business firms continue to actively recruit educated people from elsewhere.  Illustrating this point, a recent New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority annual report cites migration into the state, of "45,000 individuals, with baccalaureate degrees or higher, between the years of 1995 and 2000."  High costs here, including housing costs and local taxes, could make this importation a tougher go in years ahead.

By investing in our public colleges and universities, New Jersey can embrace the opportunity to serve more low- and middle-income students while broadening the work force pipeline.  The benefits: a financially sound future for homegrown citizens, more robust communities, less need to import talent and a more economically sound Garden State.  Our future could rest with the thousands of students  of modest means who, at this moment, are pondering whether they can go to college in New Jersey and afford the costs.