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Press Release
Press Release
HISPANIC FAMILIES HIT HARD WITH
SOARING TUITION COSTS FAR OUTPACING INFLATION, WAGES.
Report: College Consumes One Third of
Annual Median Household Income for Hispanic Households.
October 12, 2006
Media Contacts:
Anne Thompson (202)955-5665
Lizette J.Olmos (202)833-6130
WASHINGTON – College is
getting priced out of the reach of more Latino
students, according to a new report released by
the Campaign for America’s Future today. The
full cost of college for one year at a public
university now consumes one third of the annual
median household income for Hispanics compared
to one-quarter of annual median household income
for a non-Hispanic, white family.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.,
and Rep. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., joined
Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert
Borosage and League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC) Executive Director Brent Wilkes
on a conference call with reporters today to
release the new report and to call on Congress
to take steps to make college affordable and
ensure that deserving Hispanic students are not
priced out of college.
The report details how rising
costs, stagnant incomes and flagging public
assistance are pricing college out of the reach
of more Latino students. And that is why it is
particularly unconscionable that the Congress,
in this year’s budget, slashed $12 billion out
of the student loan program, even while interest
rates on student and parent loans were hiked,
and the level of Pell grants remained frozen for
the fifth straight year. College costs are
soaring out of reach – and Congress acted to
make things worse.
The average cost of attending
a public four-year college has increased 42
percent nationwide since 2000, sticking students
with a $2,786 hike in costs. Over the same
period, the latest Census data show that median
family income has fallen 4 percent for Hispanics
and 2 percent overall.
The new report finds that with
tuition costs rising far faster than inflation,
real wages still stagnating, federal assistance
shrinking and states cutting back institutional
support, millions of students are therefore
foregoing college, dropping out, or incurring
serious debt.
“The cuts in student loan
programs aren’t an accident,” said Robert
Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for
America’s Future. “They are a direct expression
of the conservative commitment to dismantling
government. From college to health care,
conservatives argue that ‘You are on your own,’
but for Latino students without the good fortune
of being born to privilege, this is shutting the
door on opportunity, at great cost to this
country.
“Education is the key to a
better life and success,” said Rep. Solis on the
call. “For most Latino students college
affordability and financial aid are the
determining factors when making decisions about
their college education. Therefore, it is
disgraceful that the Republican leadership
slashed federal student aid by $12 billion while
college costs keep skyrocketing. At a time when
our Latino students are being left behind, we
need to work harder to make higher education
more affordable and maintain programs that help
students pay for college.”
“As Hispanic students try to
cope with soaring college costs, the president
and Congress have cut federal assistance for
higher education,” said LULAC Executive Director
Brent Wilkes, who joined Borosage and Rep. Solis
on today’s call. “These increasing costs are
increasingly putting higher education out of
reach for hard working Latinos.”
Pell Grants have stagnated for
four years, and the president’s current proposal
before the House of Representatives fails to
raise meaningfully the federal awards, putting
the maximum Pell Grant at $800 less in constant
dollars than it was 30 years ago.
Rep. Grijalva noted that
across the country, the rising costs of
attending a four-year public college coupled
with the diminished value of the maximum Pell
Grant have limited the college opportunities for
many low income and Latino students.
“Rather than helping the 1.8
million Latino students at degree-granting
institutions, Republicans have made it harder to
pay for college by cutting billions from federal
student aid programs,” said Rep. Grijalva.
“Congress must restore the real value of federal
aid by cutting the student loan interest rate in
half and re-investing in the Pell Grant Program.
Only then, can we begin to help students
overcome debt burden and realize their dreams of
going to college.”
The new report documenting the
rising financial barriers to higher education
includes a record of key college affordability
votes along with a letter grade for each member
of Congress based on their voting record. The
report also documents campaign contributions
made by the student loan industry giants Sallie
Mae and Nelnet to each member of Congress.
# # #
**NOTE: Media
representatives interested in a copy of the new
reports can obtain a copy at http://home.ourfuture.org/education/soaring-out-of-reach.html
.**
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