NEWS RELEASE
A sobering new analysis released today by The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) finds striking inequities in public college affordability for families at different income levels in Kansas. College Costs in Context: A State-by-State Look at College (Un)Affordability exposes the financial burdens that the actual costs of getting a public college education place on students at different income levels. While college costs are high relative to family incomes for most students in most states, the lowest income students face by far the most extreme and unrealistic financial expectations, especially in Kansas.
Across the country, the neediest families must commit an average of 77 percent of their total income to cover costs at a four-year school and 50 percent at a two-year school. Yet in Kansas, families that earn $30,000 or less have to spend 107 percent of their total income to cover the average net price of going to a four-year school, and 56 percent of their total income for a two-year school –making Kansas one of the least affordable states for low-income students seeking a public education. “Net price” is the total cost of college – books, transportation, and living expenses, as well as tuition and fees – minus state, federal, and college grants andscholarships.
College Costs in Context is unique in focusing on affordability as the share of family income required to cover the net price paid by students at each income level, and the number of hours low-income students would have to work to cover the price they’re asked to pay.
“College prices alone don’t tell you whether they’re affordable for a given family,” said Debbie Cochrane, vice president of TICAS and report co-author. “The net price of college may be lowest for the lowest income families, but a family living on $30,000 per year cannot realistically devote more than half of its income to college and still cover basic necessities.”
Other findings from College Costs in Context on affordability in Kansas:
- Students from families earning less than $30,000 a year must commit eight times the share of income than the highest-income students to pay for a public four-year college in Kansas. The share of family income required for the neediest students at public two-year colleges is more than seven times higher than for the wealthiest families.
- The lowest-income students in Kansas would have to work 24 hours a week at minimum wage to cover the net cost of a public two-year college, and 46 hours a week to cover the cost of a public four-year college.
To narrow gaps in college affordability, TICAS recommends that policymakers focus where the problems are most severe by strengthening need-based federal Pell Grants, improving state aid programs, and promoting state investment in higher education. The maximum federal Pell Grant covers the smallest share of college costs in more than 40 years, and Pell Grant recipients – the vast majority of whom have family incomes of $40,000 or less – are more than twice as likely as other students to have student loans and owe much more when they graduate. Improving and increasing state grant aid will also help narrow affordability, enrollment and completion gaps, and states should assess the inequitable impact that early application deadlines, age restrictions, and prohibitions on using grants for non-tuition college costs can have on students’ access to needed aid. A new federal investment that promotes state higher education spending would help increase affordability for low- and middle-income students at public colleges, which serve more three-quarters of all undergraduates.
College Costs in Context includes national and state-level cost and affordability data for students at community colleges and public four-year schools, which can be compared by state, type of school, and income group. A sortable spreadsheet, the full report, and additional graphics can be downloaded at https://www.ticas.org/content/