California’s public colleges seem well-positioned with respect to a plan recently outlined by President Barack Obama, telling colleges to cut back on tuition costs ““ or else.
Under the plan, colleges would either cut costs and tuition or risk losing out on billions of dollars in campus-based federal financial aid. There’s a number of different components ”“ freezing interest rates on student loans, doubling the number of work-study programs ““ but efforts to reform financial-based aid will likely be the most controversial.
A U.S. president has never endorsed a plan to involve the federal government in slashing the price of college. On the whole, it was worded as a warning, a threat to schools to lower costs. But if the administration wants to enact productive change in higher education, there should be more specifics beyond threats. Higher education experts and officials have noted the ambiguity of the plan itself and the lack of detail.
It’s also not entirely clear how the program would be implemented. It also seems to canvas too broad a scope to be effective ““ an obvious problem is how to impose uniform regulations on a field of institutions that frankly runs the gamut. UCLA, for example, is a public university in a state that has slashed its budget considerably in the wake of the recession.
There is a valid concern that the proposal would pull funding from institutions hit hardest by state funding cuts at a time when those schools need it most. Clear comparability measures would need to be in place before steps are taken to punish certain schools.
But in the big scheme of things, the University of California and other California college systems will look pretty good compared to other institutions. UCs have lower tuition costs compared to private colleges ““ UCLA students pay $12,686 compared to Harvard’s $36,992.
One-third of the UC’s tuition is set aside for financial aid. UC administrators have pointed out this week that the UC tends to enroll more students from low-income groups than private schools, and a large proportion of students transfer from community colleges.
Based on Obama’s speeches from last week warning schools to cut costs, the UC seems to be able to mount a strong argument against that threat being realized.
At the same time, it’s unclear where the benefits of the proposal would lie, exactly. Obama has proposed expanding the amount of aid available, but it’s not like sending funding support to specific institutions. It’s addressing accessibility but not quality.
Ultimately, Obama has a formidable challenge ahead of him pushing the proposals through Congress. But the president and his advisers need to look through the situation with a fine-tooth comb ““ sooner, not later.