WATERVILLE, Maine — Emily Kayser finds the idea of covering her son’s college tuition on a teacher’s salary to be daunting. To pay for it, she is considering what she can sell.
Kayser, who was visiting Colby College with her high school-age son, Matt, is part of the many Americans in the middle who earn too much to qualify for need-based financial aid, but not enough to afford college easily.
The cost of college has been increasing for middle-income Americans, with the net cost of a degree rising from 12 percent to 22 percent since 2009, depending on their earnings level, compared to about 1 percent for lower-income families, federal data shows.
To address this issue, some schools, particularly private nonprofit institutions, are starting to offer financial aid specifically for middle-income families in an effort to attract them back. Colby College, for example, has announced a program that will cap the cost of tuition, room, and board at $10,000 a year for families earning up to $100,000, and $15,000 for those with incomes between $100,000 and $150,000.
This initiative, underwritten by a $10 million gift from an alumnus, is aimed at easing the financial burden on middle-income families looking to send their children to college.
The anxiety surrounding college costs is affecting universities and colleges, as the proportion of students from middle-income families on U.S. campuses has been declining. Middle-income Americans make up 52 percent of the population but only represent 37 percent of students on campuses.
In response to this trend, colleges are beginning to offer designated financial aid for middle-income families to attract them. Schools like Colby College and Rice University are implementing programs to provide full-tuition scholarships to undergraduates from families with certain income ranges.
The goal is to balance the socioeconomic representation on campuses and address the decline in enrollment that many institutions are facing. By simplifying the financial aid process and offering clear pricing structures, colleges hope to attract more middle-income families to their campuses.
The efforts to support middle-income families in accessing higher education seem to be working, with some colleges reporting an increase in applications and enrollment from this demographic. It is crucial for colleges to continue targeting their resources to support students from both middle-income and low-income backgrounds.
Institutions like the University of Montana are doubling their financial aid offerings for middle-income families, recognizing the need to provide support in this income bracket. The focus on assisting middle-income families in affording college is becoming a priority for many colleges and universities.
Overall, colleges are making efforts to prevent the decline in the number of middle-income students on campuses. By providing targeted financial aid and simplifying the process, institutions are working to ensure that students from all income levels have access to higher education.
Contact writer Jon Marcus at 212-678-7556 or [email protected].
This story about middle-class families paying for college was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter. Listen to our higher education podcast.
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