When I graduate from college, which is frighteningly too soon, I will have a Bachelor's Degree, four years of memories, and $20,000 of debt - and I'm one of the lucky ones.
The cost of tuition is an increasing struggle for students attempting to pay for higher education. Boston College, like many universities, has long struggled with making the price of tuition affordable for poor and middle-class families. If BC is really stuck for ideas on how to do that, maybe we should take a look at what our Ivy League neighbor is doing across the Charles.
Harvard University announced its new financial aid plan in late December. Already respected for its commitment to lower-income students, Harvard's new plan is an overhauling of its financial aid program, specifically addressing the needs of the middle class.
The new system breaks down as follows: Families earning less than $60,000 per year will continue to pay no tuition costs. Families earning $60,000 to $120,000 will pay a percentage of their income (between 0 and 10 percent) on a scaled basis. Students whose families earn $120,000 to $180,000 will contribute 10 percent, while families who earn more than that amount will pay higher costs. Harvard's new plan is expected to increase aid to students whose families make less than $180,000 by 30 to 50 percent.
How much is this ambitious plan going to cost America's oldest institution? Somewhere in the ballpark of $22 million a year, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Harvard also plans to eliminate the need for student loans, replacing them with grants, and to eliminate home equity from its aid calculations. Doing so is especially helpful to middle-class students, whose parents own a home or make six-figure salaries and often do not qualify for student aid or subsidized loans.
Other elite universities, such as Stanford, Princeton, and Yale, have also begun to implement similar strategies. So where, then, is BC in all of this? Currently, in the early stages of a 10-year master plan that calls for $700 million in new construction and $100 million in other renovation projects.
The Master Plan appears largely to be a positive initiative by the University, improving its facilities, appearance, and standing among competitive schools. But while BC has maintained a proud history of being a "need-blind" institution (one that does not consider family income in the admissions process), many students and their families continue to search for answers to pay for the rising cost of tuition.
The answer for most of these students is loans - lots of loans. A friend recently told me that when she graduates she will owe approximately $120,000 to lenders, most of which is unsubsidized. The prospect of such monstrous debt deters thousands of students each year from applying to or attending elite colleges. In an age when the most elite colleges and students alike compete to attract the another, universities that follow Harvard's approach gain the upper hand in attracting top students from lower-income brackets.
If BC really wants to compete with the Ivies (both established and new) - and maintain its commitment to putting students and their education first - cutting tuition costs must be made a priority and not just part of the Master Plan. Harvard's endowment may dwarf BC's ($35 billion to $1.5 billion at last check), but that doesn't mean their commitment to students should as well.
I don't mind chipping in a fair share to pay for my education or fund new projects; just don't make me take a second mortgage to do it.
Matt Carroll is a Heights staff columnist. He welcomes comments at mcarroll@bcheights.com.
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