Report gives state a passing grade in college affordability

An independent research report gave failing grades to every state but California on keeping college affordable -- and the problem will get worse as the full weight of recession bears down on American families, researchers at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education said in a report to be released today.

California’s “C” grade was somewhat misleading, however, as it reflected bargain-basement sticker prices at the state’s two-year colleges. The researchers found the cost of attending a University of California or Cal State University campus to be relatively steep, and also said the state’s high cost of living ate up much of the community college pricing advantage.

Only two states, New York and Tennessee, have made it cheaper in recent years to fund higher education, the report found. But their improvement was so slight, they joined the other 47 states in scoring an F for affordability.

“The one virtue of the [California] system is that the entry point is a lot lower in terms of the community colleges,” said Will Doyle, assistant professor of higher education at Vanderbilt University and a consultant on the report.

The study, which comes out every two years, grades the 50 states from A to F on how well their higher education institutions are performing in areas including accessibility, completion rates and learning. The affordability grade is based on how much of the average family’s income goes to college costs.

In California, the cost of attending a public four-year college climbed from 21% of average family income in 1999-2000 to 28% in 2007-08. At two-year colleges, the increase was from 20% to 25%.

Low-income families have taken the brunt of the price escalation. Nationwide, those in the lowest fifth of income brackets have gone from spending 39% of their income on public college costs in 1999-2000 to 55% in 2007-08. Families in the highest bracket have seen their share climb from 7% to 9% in the same period.

Financial aid can only go so far in redressing inequities, said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center based in San Jose. Many colleges are using financial aid to recruit star students rather than to help poor families, and tuition inflation is far outpacing income, the report said.

California matches only 46 cents of every dollar in federal Pell grants for low-income students. Washington state and New Jersey, on the other hand, pay dollar for dollar in state aid for the federal grant aid such students receive.

Historically, Callan said, states cut college budgets in tough economic times, then allow the schools to raise tuition.

“If we handle this like all the other [downturns], we’re going to see it get worse,” he said.

The bad news has already arrived at Santa Ana College, where students last week flooded the financial aid office with new applications and appeals for more aid.

“The average student lost a job and suddenly is eligible,” said Sara Lundquist, vice president for student services at the college.

The requests for help come as the two-year college reels from a $5.3-million cutback, which whittled the staff available to process the relatively complicated midyear aid requests.

“Everything is topsy-turvy,” Lundquist said. “It’s an absolutely horrific situation for the students,” many of them immigrants and the first in their families to attend college, she noted.

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gale.holland@latimes.com