Higher education is under siege, with many students and parents balking at high costs. In a series of opinion pieces, university leaders outline their efforts to keep college affordable. It is the second in the series.
Here are some recent findings about higher education that are attracting national attention: College is unaffordable and overpriced, highly selective and inequitable, biased and conformist.
A recent Highlights from the Yale Report These are some of the key public perceptions and concerns driving the decline in trust in higher education.
And yet, as the report rightly notes, elite private institutions like Yale represent only a fraction of America’s colleges and universities. America’s regional public universities (RPUs) – which we represent – enroll 70 percent of the nation’s 7 million undergraduates in public four-year institutions and produce two-thirds of the bachelor’s and master’s degrees earned at these schools, according to our analysis of federal data. Our institutions tell a story of higher education that is very different from that of elite schools – and it’s a story that we believe needs to be told.
Yale deserves credit for addressing the issue of trust. Even though this and other elite schools occupy an outsized place in the public imagination of what college is and who it is for, some of the concerns raised by the report are well-founded and widely felt: East A real barrier to registration and completion for many students. And skepticism about the value of a degree is understandable as recent graduates attempt to launch their careers in a context difficult job market for beginners.
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The reality of RPU, however, calls into question other aspects of the Yale report’s conclusions.
Take affordability. Families naturally wonder if college is affordable for them when they hear about tuition exceeding $70,000 a year at elite universities. However, according to an AASCU analysis of the College Scorecard and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, average tuition and fees at RPUs in the state are approximately $10,000 per yearand 97 percent of our financially dependent students graduate median debt less than $20,000.
Cost is a primary reason we disproportionately enroll Pell Grant recipients and low-income students. Regional public universities often provide an affordable gateway to a college degree.
Related: How Much Will This College Cost You? Good luck figuring it out
RPUs aim to ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed. We expand opportunity by putting access, not exclusion, at the heart of our mission. Our admissions policies are not designed to gain prestige but to improve lives. We facilitate transfer from community colleges by establishing close relationships with these institutions. We also offer flexible study paths, including part-time and online programs, as many of our students commute and balance work and family responsibilities. As a result, RPUs are more reflective of the broader public that higher education is intended to serve, registration of larger shares students of color, first-generation students, working adults, transfer students, and veterans than non-RPUs.
And, while our institutions are not immune to challenges related to free speech, conformity, and self-censorship, the breadth of RPU student experiences often supports diversity of viewpoints, and RPU recognizes the need to do more to integrate the principles of civil discourse and free expression into campus life.
In Michigan, for example, Grand Valley State University has a civil discourse centerwhile Oakland University has expanded opportunities for students to engage across differences through its Center for Civic Engagement. Another such effort is a recently launched pilot program at Oakland University, where students read “The book of civility” by journalists Nolan Finley (conservative) and Stephen Henderson (progressive). Through facilitated dialogue, these students learn to question their assumptions, listen more attentively, and return to difficult conversations with more openness and empathy.
Like many RPUs, Oakland University produces great results: OU graduates have median income 27 percent higher than those of alumni of comparable Michigan public institutions and 32 percent higher than those of workers without a college degree. Graduates build meaningful careers in fields ranging from health care to teaching to the local automotive industry.
The Yale report highlights widespread uncertainty about the fundamental mission of higher education. But this mission becomes clearer when we look to universities that train and educate many more students.
RPUs remain true to the American dream by providing affordable and accessible pathways to a life of meaning, success, and engaged citizenship.
It is a mission worthy of the public’s trust.
Charles L. Welch is president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and a first-generation college student.
Ora Hirsch Pescovitz is president of Oakland University and chair of the board of trustees of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
Contact the opinion editor at opinion@hechingerreport.org.
This story on regional public universities was produced by The Hechinger reportan independent, nonprofit news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Register with Hechinger weekly newsletter.
The article OPINION: America’s regional public universities can still be a bargain in a sea of very expensive options appeared first in the Hechinger Report.
