Colleges and universities face a steep challenge separating fact from fiction in the eyes of working-class and middle-income voters, according to recent focus group work conducted by the American Council on Education.
These groups believe that the economic value of a college education is declining, ACE Senior Vice President Terry W. Hartle told attendees at the group’s annual meeting Monday. One focus group participant believed the average student loan borrower takes on more than $13,000 in debt per year, and a majority of participants said that colleges and universities are indifferent to costs students pay. A majority of participants also said that colleges and universities are for-profit institutions.
Reality is a different story, however. Economists have found that a college degree generally continues to bring significant economic returns, even if some say the wage premium between degree holders and non-degree holders has flattened in recent years. The average borrower who graduated from a four-year college with student loan debt in 2015 carried an average of $30,100 in debt, far below the $52,000 they would owe if they racked up $13,000 per year. A vast majority of colleges and universities in the United States are nonprofit operations.
And while attitudes toward college costs might be a question of perception, many college and university presidents say they are growing increasingly worried about the discussion around college expenses and that they are trying to minimize increases in the overall price tag for students.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/03/14/speakers-discuss-economic-demands-placed-higher-education