Low-income,
first-in-family college students sometimes need a little help getting to the
finish line. Institutions typically respond with solutions such as tuition aid
and academic counseling. That may not be enough, according to speakers at The New
York Times Higher Ed Leaders Forum held recently.
“The
new economics of college goes way beyond tuition; we spend so much time talking
about whether tuition is going up, whether it’s frozen, whether that makes
college affordable. But the vast majority of the cost of attending college
faced by students in the United States are things like books and supplies, room
and board, medical expenses, transportation, clothing,” said Sara Goldrick-Rab,
professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University, in a report about the conference on Education Dive.
Goldrick-Rab
and other speakers pointed out that some students need assistance covering
basic living expenses while they’re in school, yet that gap has been overlooked
by colleges and universities. A study conducted by Temple University with the
Wisconsin HOPE Lab indicated 36% of students are food insecure and 36% are
housing insecure.
Similar
findings emerged from the Monthly Student Panel survey conducted last spring by
NACS OnCampus Research. When asked how concerned they were about having enough
money to pay necessary bills such as rent, food, and monthly expenses, 23% of
student respondents were “extremely” or “very” concerned. Another 23% were
“somewhat” concerned.
In the
same survey, students ranked “paying for home/rent expenses” as their No. 1
cost concern and 29% said they “often” or “sometimes” go without food when
they’re hungry because they don’t have the money.
