Less Financial Aid Going to Students Who Need It

Less Financial Aid Going to Students Who Need It

Financial aid is an important resource for students who want to attend college in the U.S. but don’t have enough money.

Financial aid is offered by banks, the government, and the school a student plans to attend.

But research shows the amount of financial aid colleges and universities provide low-income students has decreased.

The National Center for Education Statistics¹, or NCES, collects information about education across the country. Last year the NCES, a part of the Department of Education, reported that more than 41 percent of all full-time² students attending college for the first time in 2014 received financial aid from their school.

But the NCES report also shows the average amount of institutional aid for low-income students has decreased steadily³ from 1996 to 2012.

The average amount of institutional aid given to the lowest-income students was $2,540 in 1996. The average amount given to the highest-income students was $3,327 in the same year.

That indicates that students with the greatest need received less financial aid than higher-income students.

In 2012, low-income students received an average of $5,300 while high-income students received an average of $7,800. Again, the students with the greatest need received less financial aid than higher-income students.

Ben Miller⁴ is the Senior Director for Post-Secondary Education at the Center for American Progress, an organization that studies and reports on American society. Miller says the problem goes back earlier than 1996.

He says the problem is colleges want to look better in rankings like the U.S. News and World Report, a media company that creates a list of what it calls “America’s Best Colleges.”

The company bases the list on information like the average standardized⁵ test results of a school’s students. A college with higher average test results has a better chance of being higher on U.S. News and World Report’s list.

Miller says higher-income students usually have higher test results and grade averages. Schools have begun to use their institutional aid to try to appeal to those types of students.

When schools take students with better academic records and are able to turn other students away, they look more prestigious⁶, he says.

"The problem is, we haven’t come up with a good way to evaluate colleges on meaningful things. You can’t go out there and find out ‘What’s the college where I’m going to learn the most?’ or ‘What’s the college where I’m going to get the most skills for my money, that’s going to be my best value?’ And so instead we use a lot of things that we think might represent quality and value but really don’t necessarily⁷."

The College Board lists the average cost of universities in the U.S. They looked at the average cost for residents⁸ to attend a public four-year institution in their state. They found the cost was $9,410 for the 2015-2016 academic year. The average cost for a private four-year institution was $32,405 for the same year.

The U.S. government spent about $31.5 billion on Pell grants¹⁰ in the 2013-2014 academic year. The Pell Grant⁹ program is the main source of federal¹¹ financial aid. The government has offered Pell grants since 1972.

But Andrew Nichols says that federal financial aid alone is not enough to help low-income students. Nichols is the Director for Higher Education Research and Data Analytics at the Education Trust, an organization that fights for equal access to education for all people.

Nichols helped write a report in 2015 on some of the problems low-income students face. This report said half the students using Pell grants received a bachelor’s degree within six years.

About 65 percent of students who did not use Pell grants received a degree in the same amount of time.

This does not mean that students with more money are smarter, Nichols says. Working more than 15 hours a week can cause students to perform poorly in the classroom.

“So you don’t have enough aid so you need to work. And then when you start working it takes away from your ability to focus on your studies. And then when that happens you could possibly lose your scholarship, which could mean that you have less money. And so it’s kind of a very ugly cycle that some students can get in.”

Nichols adds that a lot of African-American, Latino and first-generation students are often low income as well. These communities are often underserved.

“Oftentimes the best predictor of success is who you’re born to and where you live. And these aren’t things that people earn, these are things that you’re given. And so what we know is in this country, low-income students don’t receive the same quality of education that students from more affluent¹² backgrounds ...”

But there is more to the problem than colleges trying to make themselves look good. State governments have decreased funding to their public universities for over 20 years, says Michael Mitchell.

“The vast majority of students go to public universities … which means that states play a huge role in making sure that college is affordable¹³ across the country. And over the past few years, as states have cut funding, it makes it much more difficult for the vast majority of students to go and afford college.”

Mitchell is a senior policy analyst¹⁴ at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities¹⁵. The center is an organization that studies how the government could use its money to reduce poverty.

He wrote a report in May about state funding to public universities. The report shows only four states -- Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming – are spending more money per student than before the economic recession¹⁶ in 2008.

On average, spending in other states is down 17 percent per student from what is was in 2008.

Words in This Story

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments¹⁷ or business

institutional aid – n. money that a college or university gives to a student to help them pay the cost of attending that school

standardized test – n. a test where all test-takers take the same test under the same or reasonably equal conditions

grade – n. a number or letter that indicates how a student performed in a class or on a test

prestigious – adj. respected and admired for being successful or important

evaluate – v. to judge the value or condition of someone or something in a careful and thoughtful¹⁸ way

resident(s) – n. someone who lives in a particular place

grant(s) – n. an amount of money that is given to someone by a government or company to be used for a particular purpose

bachelor’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

focus – n. a main purpose or interest

scholarship – n. an amount of money that is given by a school or organization to a student to help pay for the student's education

cycle – n. a set of events or actions that happen again and again in the same order

affluent – adj. having a large amount of money and owning many expensive things

funding – n. an amount of money that is used for a special purpose

affordable – adj. easily paid for

1 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。

2 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

7 necessarily   

adv.必要地，必需地；必定地，必然地

参考例句：

• More work does not necessarily call for more men.增加工作量不一定就要增添人员。
• A voter must necessarily be no younger than eighteen.选民必须在18岁以上。

8 residents   

n.居民( resident的名词复数 )；（旅馆的）住宿者

参考例句：

• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。
• Local residents have reacted angrily to the news. 当地居民对这一消息表示愤怒。

9 grant   

vt.同意给予，授予，承认；n.拨款；补助款

参考例句：

• If you grant my request, you will earn my thanks.如果你答应我的要求，就会得到我的感谢。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

10 grants   

n.（来自私人或公共授予机构的）基金( grant的名词复数 )；补助金；授给物（如财产、授地、专有权、补助、拨款等）v.（退一步）承认( grant的第三人称单数 )；（尤指正式地或法律上）同意；准许；让渡

参考例句：

• Higher education grants are a carrot with which to entice students. 高等教育的助学金是吸引学生的诱惑物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Grants for the arts are not too thick on the ground these years. 这几年提供给艺术的补助金并不很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

12 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

13 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 priorities   

n.先( priority的名词复数 )；优先；优先权；优先考虑的事

参考例句：

• The document provided a revealing insight into the government's priorities. 这份文件使人看出政府的轻重缓急是怎样安排的。
• We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. 我们必须共同努力，只为最重要的项目提供资金。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

16 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

17 investments   

n.投资( investment的名词复数 )；投资额；（时间、精力的）投入；值得买的东西

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile, investments are at great risk. 由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All their money was tied up in long-term investments. 他们所有的钱都搁死在长线投资上了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 thoughtful   

adj.思考的，沉思的，体贴的，关心的

参考例句：

• She is thoughtful for her friends.她很体贴她的朋友们。
• This is a thoughtful essay.这是一篇具有思想性的随笔。