Community Colleges Are Screwed

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Community Colleges are 
Screwed: The Higher 
Education Wealth Gap
http://www.good.is/post/community-colleges-are-screwedthe-higher-education-wealth-gap/

You've probably heard about the everwidening gap between rich and poor. We
now rank 45th in the world in terms of
income equality, sandwiched between the
Ivory Coast and Uruguay. And the way
America funds public education is no
exception to this trend. According to a new
study from a Washington think tank, higher
education has never been more stratified.

Hartle says budget cuts disproportionately
hurt the quality of education in community
colleges, where more than 3.4 million
young adults are enrolled. "Budget cuts
might mean larger classes, fewer full-time
faculty, shorter hours in the library, or it
might be less frequent cutting of the grass,"
he says. "But community colleges are pretty
bare bones. The vast majority of money
they receive goes to academics," not to
prettifying the grounds, sports teams, or
other extracurriculars.
Experts across the country are blunt about
their fears. "Eighty percent of college
students are enrolled in public schools,"
Hartle says. "College has never been totally
free, but in the past, the United States was
fairly committed to help students who
couldn't afford college. That commitment is
eroding."

Here are the facts: From 2008 to 2009,
community colleges’ per-student spending College enrollment is at an all-time high
shrank by $254, mainly because states and because of the recession, especially at
community colleges, which enroll a high
towns are broke. Meanwhile,
percentage of young people who can't
appropriations to community colleges
otherwise find a job. Eventually, many
nationwide fell an average of $488 per
families will decide they can't pay for
student, so institutions made up some of
college at all, and they're going to continue
the difference by raising tuition $113. At
altering their choices based on the price of
public research universities, net tuition
the school. This means fewer degrees for
increased by $369, but appropriations
declined by $751 per student, and spending working-class people, a less educated
per student rose just $92. Private colleges, workforce, and a cycle that perpetuates the
already egregious wealth gap in our
on the other hand, increased both tuition
country.
and spending per student.
"This is nothing new—when there's an
economic downturn, states are harsh on
public higher education," says Terry
Hartle, senior vice president of the
American Council on Education. "They see
a lot of people who look like paying
customers, so they figure they can let the
customers pay more for the benefit of a
degree."

"Most public policy decisions don't focus on
what's down the road, but the fact is, we
will not have the workforce we need to
compete in the 21st century," says Hartle.
"We're making this investment more and
more expensive for individuals. Sooner or
later, people will realize they just don't have
the resources to make that investment."

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