Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Chris Lucier, vice president for enrollment management,
University of Vermont.
A recent story in the Burlington Free Press shed needed light on the issue of college indebtedness, a growing national challenge (“College prices escalate as states slash budgets,” Oct. 26). But the story’s exclusive focus on a professional who graduated with $70,000 in debt, and is unable to buy a home as a result, could lead some readers to conclude such debilitating debt levels are the norm. The story also left open the possibility that college was a debatable investment in today’s cost climate.
At UVM, in-state tuition is $12,800 and room and board $10,000. Isn’t it possible that Vermont students are graduating with debt loads in the neighborhood of $70,000?
The reality is that for those in-state graduates who take out loans, the average loan burden is $21,000, slightly above the $20,000 national average for public universities – a sizable sum to be sure, but not one that closes off life choices like home ownership. One-third of in-state students graduate with no loan debt at all.
How are these apparent contradictions explained?
Partly because some students don’t borrow, but largely by the university’s ongoing commitment to financial aid.
A great source of confusion in the college costs debate, especially where UVM is concerned, is the difference between an institution’s sticker price and the real cost of attendance.
It’s widely believed that UVM’s high tuition, for instance – the flip side of our low public support – is closing it off as an option for Vermonters. In actuality, the last three years have seen more Vermont undergraduates attending UVM than at any time in nearly 20 years, despite a shrinking pool of Vermont high school graduates.
What’s often omitted in this discussion are the significant institutional dollars that colleges generally, and UVM specifically, devote to scholarships and grants.
Three little known facts should be kept in mind in any discussion of UVM’s tuition and the indebtedness of its Vermont graduates.
* About three-quarters of in-state undergraduates receive scholarships and/or grants, known as gift aid.
* The average tuition reduction brought about by gift aid is 50 percent.
* One-third of Vermonters (not including the children of UVM and Vermont State Colleges employees, who receive tuition remission), pay no tuition at all.
Because of UVM’s history of being underfunded by the state – our appropriation is the third lowest in the country per $1,000 of income – the university’s tuition has always been high and public dollars for financial aid low.
To keep the university affordable, UVM has devoted growing institutional resources to scholarships and grants for in-state students. From 2006 to 2011, in-state tuition grew by 29 percent. But institutional gift aid for Vermonters rose over 100 percent, from about $8 million to over $16 million. Over the past three years of the recession, the average indebtedness for Vermont students with loans has remained the same, despite their growing need.
What about the issue of whether college is still a good investment?
A recent study conducted at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found that, over a lifetime, workers with a bachelor’s degree could expect to earn $960,000 more than those with only a high school degree. Twenty-one thousand dollars seems like a reasonable investment to make for a wage premium approaching $1 million.
An especially unfortunate element of the college indebtedness issue are those students who accrue significant debt but don’t graduate – an endemic issue at for-profit colleges, but also at other schools. In this area, UVM shines, with four- and six-year graduation rates that are 20 percentage points over the average for public universities.
While the debate over UVM’s costs will probably continue, Vermont high school students are voting with their feet – and succeeding in record numbers once they arrive at Vermont’s university.
