College Affordability A Top Priority, New Study Shows

According to a recent survey, more Americans believe making higher education more affordable would be an effective means of helping those who are struggling economically than preserving social security and cutting taxes for the middle class.

Reducing college costs -- which was picked as the best means of helping Americans with financial woes by 63 percent of the nationally representative 1,004 Americans surveyed -- beat out social security (58 percent) and cutting taxes (48 percent) as well as "reducing the deficit" (40 percent), "providing financial help to people whose owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth" (22 percent) and others as the best solution.

The study, called "Slip-Sliding Away," was published Thursday by Public Agenda.

Report co-author Scott Bittle said in an e-mail to the Huffington Post that he was surprised by how many people reported worrying about long-term finances -- like paying for college -- in light of short-term financial concerns. Of those respondents who reported that they were "struggling a lot" economically, 77 percent said were very worried about having trouble paying for their children's college education. This was especially significant as 52 percent of respondents had problems paying their mortgage or rent, and 34 percent reported losing their jobs.

Check out more survey results here.

Are you worried about paying for college? Share your story in the comments section.

Comments

[macday]

04:21 PM on 02/07/2011

Education is very Important but there is no way that Seniors are more concerned about the cost of Education than they are about Social Security. This article had to be dreamed up by some sicko Republican that wants to put Social Security on the chopping Block and use the money to cut the Taxes more for his or Hers rich buddies.

[Arrive2 net]

12:45 AM on 02/05/2011

I think higher education is seen in America as the major path of upward mobility that many can qualify for and benefit from, if they are willing to apply themselves. If you are cut off from higher education and have no chance at it at all, its almost like you are permanently held back from economic opportunity. Although there are other paths to prosperity, college can improve you, and your chances for economic success at the same time.

Bernard Schuster
Arrive2.net
Twitter.com/arrive2_net

[HockeyMom]

03:44 PM on 02/04/2011

It's interesting that when ever I mention the 7.9% parental loan my husband and I carry for our 2 college students I get scrubbed. Why?

[Anaxamenes]

05:43 PM on 02/04/2011

Bless you for helping your children. My parents helped me as well, even though they don't particularly understand nor care for higher education. You are wonderful to help your children, and I hope they are thankful!

[HockeyMom]

09:23 AM on 02/04/2011

2nd comment....then I see the top CEO making 450 times the amount of money the bottom employee earns I really start to shutter for our future.

[HockeyMom]

03:45 PM on 02/04/2011

This was a second comment on a scrubbed article, the one I talk about the 7.9% education loan.

[Anaxamenes]

05:45 PM on 02/04/2011

I'm wondering if maybe HuffPo is having technical problems or they went with the "free" version of the billboards which has a terrible algorithm for flagging comments. I've had super benign comments that just vanished without posting myself.

With their less than stellar attention to copy editing, it wouldn't surprise me if it was a technical issue.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

09:21 AM on 02/04/2011

Here is the cool thing about college.  It is partl so expensive because it is so available.  Everyone in the US can go to college (Even though the average American is stupid and ignorant; Americans know less about math and science than all other countries and America spends more on education).

Right now there is no financial limitation to school.  Any US citizen can apply for government guaranteed loans to go into any program that they want.  Want a degree in theatre even if you are unable to appropriately utilize it?  Go right ahead.  The government does not care what you waste its money on as long as you pay it back (and you will, because the debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy).  This is a huge boon to schools.  Their fees do not matter.  The government is ponying up the money and anyone can get it.  So there is no reason to cut costs.

The downside of total access to university is that it creates a situation of very high costs.  The government involvement made things much more costly.

There are other reasons for high costs.  Real estate and branding are not cheap, but no one is going to generic school with no amenities.  Staff costs are also pretty high, but you need people to manage those buildings and alumni programs and to ensure compliance and to recruit more life long customers.  That is not cheap.

A lot of it does come from the nearly unlimited pool of money that has increased availability.  People are now able to go to almost any university.  Schools need to differentiate themselves.   Brand appeal serves as a key factor when an individual chooses a school.

[Anaxamenes]

05:50 PM on 02/04/2011

Actually, if you are convicted of drug charges I believe, and other certain felony or above crimes you are not eligible for Federal Student Loans.

Having both studied and worked at the same University, I can tell you the bulk of the employees make decent livings, however unless you are an administrator, you will be lucky to be able to afford to purchase a house on the income you receive. Administration is where the money is at, if you directly deal with students, then you are paid a decent middle class wage.

I also dislike how you implied that being a theater major is somehow devoid of value to our society. Maybe that person cannot make a lot of money with that degree, however it doesn't mean that the knowledge imparted by theater isn't an important aspect of our civilization. We should value all different subjects, even the ones that don't make people rich.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

08:40 PM on 02/04/2011

The population not eligible for government guaranteed education loans is a slim market. People who work as support staff may not make a lot of money, but the numbers are what can add costs to a university. Though I guess that is true in essential areas too. With rather intimate knowledge of the purchasing and hiring practices of a mid-size (30,000 student) public university I have seen how money is wasted everywhere to the benefit of no one. I am only stating that if risk were considered the acceptance and interest rates for certain areas would be a lot more than other areas. As it is now the loan granter is just giving out loans regardless of the potential return, which is fine. But it is not smart. I like the potential for abuse, especially for students with multiple citizenships who can take US education money and live elsewhere without paying back any of it. That almost makes up for the increase in tuition that results from financing almost every university experience.

[SisterAnn]

06:56 AM on 02/04/2011

You have to wonder how far the government and the corporations think the average person can stretch their dollar. Many do well to pay their essential expenses, then there are weddings, college, and looming retirement.

[Said One]

05:17 AM on 02/04/2011

Each and every major public university, private university, Ivy league etc should be made to post their detailed budgets online - theres lots of waste at a lot of universities and if they receive state funding especially in broke states like Michigan - they should be made to justify any wasteful spending.

Getting tons of money in from fees and states in most cases and complete absence of budget justification.

[c-tom]

01:34 AM on 02/04/2011

Since the survey has a margin of error of 3.5% and more affordable college and preserving social security and medicaid are within 3% of each other they are really thought to be about of equal effectiveness.

[carbolaw]

11:44 PM on 02/03/2011

"The person who does not consider what is far off will not escape being alarmed by what is close at hand."  Confucius.  If we continue to cut funding to education at all levels, we will one day be alarmed that we are no longer able to compete in the global economy.   The reality is that unless we make higher education of all sorts accessible to all we will lose the talent war and thus far further and further behind the rest of the world.   If we want to be competitive, if we want to be the world leader we have become accustomed to being, we cannot continue to cut higher ed funding and k-12 funding.   If we truly want to compete and we believe in American exceptionalism we must find a way to make higher ed accessible for all who are qualified and we must assure that more and more Americans are qualified and ready when they graduate from high school.   Investing in education is not an option, it is a necessity to the sustainability of our society.   There are many ways to find this funding  including increasing the revenue stream from the richest of Americans that have taken more and more of the after tax income and wealth of this country.  To cut the ridiculous level of spending on defense, to cut the subsidies to billion dollar companies in the energy and agricultural businesses and to cut the loopholes for corporations that make billions in profit and pay little or no tax.  However, to paraphrase FDR, education is the last place that we should economize.

[matthewjmoss]

11:14 PM on 02/03/2011

I'm sure if you surveyed the passengers on the Titanic, they'd have been more concerned with caviar and mink coats than icebergs... until it was too late.

[bwillrogers]

09:30 PM on 02/03/2011

I have questions but the links do not work. 20 people per each state? Income levels? How many were polled who can not afford to have a phone? What is the actual wording? 1004 total people? Do everyone a favor and hire more people (good for the economy and unemployment) and get back to us with a poll that has some teeth.

[Greener-Pastures]

07:51 PM on 02/03/2011

This is telling of how Americans feel about seniors in general. I think it's sad.

[SisterAnn]

06:52 AM on 02/04/2011

Since there are more seniors than other adults that is saying something.:-)

[bleubunny]

07:07 PM on 02/03/2011

I gave up worrying. It's just impossible.

[JacklynD]

06:02 PM on 02/03/2011

But what does it matter when the GOP will focus on what their special interest groups are most concerned about - repealing the Health Care Protection Act and deregulating all EPA standards and safety measures?

[binxterdoodles]

05:20 PM on 02/03/2011

Translation: I can't get a job so help me pay for school.

[Acert]

11:14 PM on 02/03/2011

Anti-education, ageist, B. S.

[Joseph Zelinski]

11:19 PM on 02/03/2011

Unemployment for college grads is under 5%. Make good sense to me.