Today, the State PIRGs'
Higher Education Project released a new report that details the current financial
unmet need experienced by college students. According to the study, college
students faced more than $31 billion dollars in unmet financial need in 2003
- 2004. This information comes at a time when Congress is deciding whether to
cut $15 billion dollars from the student loan programs.
The report finds that public
college students from a family with a household income of $62,240 or less face
an average of $3,986 a year in unmet need. On average public college students
from families with a household income of $34,288 or less fare even worse, facing
an average of $4,990 a year in unmet need.
"Students are in a
deep financial hole," explained Luke Swarthout, Higher Education Associate
for the State PIRGs and the author of the report. "Instead of addressing
unmet need and helping students out of the hole, Congress is asking them to
dig deeper."
Unmet is calculated by
adding tuition to cost of living and subtracting a student's expected family
contribution and financial aid package. High unmet leads students to take out
larger loans and work more hours a week during school. Studies have also shown
that high unmet is a barrier to college for many low-income students. Students
facing high unmet need are often forced to make different college choices such
as attending a 2-year rather than a 4-year college or going part-time rather
than full-time.
According to the report,
in 2004 America's nineteen million college students faced more than $31 billion
in unmet need. Last week the House Education and Workforce Committee proposed
cutting an additional $14.3 billion over the next 6 years from the student aid
programs. These cuts will make borrowing more expensive for students by increasing
interest rates and cutting benefits. In addition they will drain billions of
dollars out of the higher education programs that could be going to make higher
education more affordable.
"Congress is passing
up a golden opportunity to start filling in the education funding hole,"
said Luke Swarthout. "They should take the savings identified in reconciliation
and reinvest in higher education with additional grant aid and lower student
interest rates."
The paper uses data from
the Department of Education's 2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey
(NPSAS) compiled by Postsecondary Education OPPORTUNITY, a non-profit based
in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
