National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education: College Costs, Tuition Out of Control

Could College Costs Be Controlled with Budget Cuts, Instead of Higher Tuition

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reports that college tuition costs are rising faster than inflation. For dramatic effect, the group gives 49 states an "F" for college costs. California is granted a "C" because the Golden State offers a widespread system of affordable community colleges.

Analysts for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education explain the shortcoming like this:

--- The federal budget gets tight, and so federal legislators reduce aid to the states.

--- The states, unlike the feds, cannot run budget deficits. Therefore, the states must truly make cuts. College aid is among the first options.

--- To make up for the loss of state aid, colleges raise tuition at a faster pace than inflation.

--- The result of higher tuition, combined with federal cuts in student loans, makes college less affordable year after year after year.

The analysis of college costs by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education is accurate, and if the intent is to lobby for more money for the colleges, then the report is effective.

However, this reporter does feel a need to step into the first person for a moment. My opinion is that colleges, especially the four-year universities, could do a whole lot more to trim costs. This is based on my 32 years as a local news reporter with The Saginaw (Mich.) News.

My assignments through the years included local government, local K-12 schools, the welfare office, the local community college and the regional four-year state university. In other words, I tasted the whole smorgasbord.

Of these entities, the four-year institution was by far the least accountable to the taxpaying public.

Local governments, local schools and the community college all must go to the taxpayers for property-tax millages. Saginaw City Hall is watched especially closely and critically.

As for the welfare office, it has been cut so severely, starting with the Reagan Administration, that it already is bare bones.