No Cheese for You

Last week, the New York Times reported on the particularly hard hit historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) are taking in the current economic downturn. As the article notes, these institutions serve, often as a central part of their mission, a disproportionately large number of low-income students who are the first in their family to attend college. In other words, the goal of these institutions—historically and currently—is to expand college access. As a result, HBCU’s enroll a much higher percent of students receiving Pell grants and loans to pay for their college education—not exactly the best population for building a large endowment to float you through tough economic times.

In the NYT article, Dr. Marybeth Gasman, an expert on HBCU’s, is quoted as saying that, "At some institutions, you might be going from eating brie to cheddar, while at H.B.C.U.’s, you might not have any cheese left." As this recent report from the Delta Cost Project shows, it's not just HBCU's that might be left without any cheese—there is a large and growing wealth gap in higher education, and institutions serving anything but the most elite populations of students are at risk of significant cutbacks that threaten the quality of education students receive. HBCU’s may be getting the news coverage today, but they are the canary in the higher finance coal mine for many more colleges.

Particularly threatened are the public open access 4-year and 2-year colleges—those institutions serving students most like the populations at many HBCU’s. As the Delta Cost Project report describes, students at these institutions have been paying more in increased tuition, but have not been getting more (and in some cases less) as spending on education related expenses has stayed steady or declined.

Even during times of plenty, many of these institutions operated on thin budgets and actually cut costs even while tuition prices rose because of declining state contributions. Now that states are facing huge budget deficits, colleges will likely be asked to cut back further and increase tuition even more. Eventually, the constant cost cutting required as states ratchet down their investment in public higher education will result in less college access, poorer learning outcomes, lower graduation rates, and will reduce the ability of higher education to help fuel an economic recovery.

As the money from the stimulus bill begins to flow to states, increased college access and affordability for low-income students should be a top priority for state lawmakers. By supporting the colleges and universities that educate the largest numbers of students and ensuring that these students continue to receive a quality education, state lawmakers can utilize the stimulus money to help the U.S. economy get back on its feet.