Affordability of Postsecondary Education
for Students of Color
Citing several recent reports, including that of the
Spellings Commission on the future of Higher Education,
the authors of Postsecondary Education Opportunity
identify a “crisis” in affordability of
U.S. higher education. The lack of college affordability
typically affects students whose parents are in the
bottom half of the income distribution. Consequently,
it adversely affects students of color in disproportionate
numbers.
By analyzing data gathered for the 2004 National Postsecondary
Student Aid Study conducted by the National Center for
Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Opportunity
found that “collectively minorities [were] 29.4
percent of the full-time, full-year, single institution,
dependent undergraduate students in 2003–2004.
But they bore 45.3 percent of the unmet need burden.”
Financial need is defined as the difference between
the cost of attendance and the family’s expected
contribution; unmet need is the amount of financial
need not met through grants, loans, work studies, etc.
The report details the relationship between race/ethnicity,
income, and college affordability through charts and
textual analysis.
Postsecondary Education Opportunity attributes
the disparity between need and assistance to state,
federal, and institutional policies that disregard both
the needs of individuals and the United States’
economic future. The authors indict these policies for
their discriminatory effects and call for policies that
make education available to all.
For the full report, see “College Affordability
by Race/Ethnicity and Family Income 1990 to 2004,”
Postsecondary Education Opportunity 172 (October
2006).
To obtain a copy of this report, visit www.postsecondary.org.
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