Thursday, October 20, 2005

College Board says graduation rates are affected by finances

Group reports large gaps in degree rates even among students who have high test scores.

By Peter Hong / Los Angeles Times

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As tuition across the United States continues to outpace gains in financial aid, students' chances of attending college and finishing with a degree increasingly have become linked to their families' income, the College Board reports.

The nonprofit group, in releasing two reports on college costs and financial aid on Tuesday, noted big gaps in graduation rates even among students who have high test scores. Those from families with the highest income and education levels finished college at more than double the rate of high-scoring students from the lowest socioeconomic grouping.

Sandy Baum, a College Board analyst, said the data show that college completion increasingly is "not about academic preparation, it's about money."

Not including room, board and books, the tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose by a national average of about 7 percent from last year to $5,491 today Private four-year schools raised their tuition by an average of about 6 percent, to $21,235, the group reported. Average total charges, including room and board, across the country are $12,127 for public colleges, and $29,026 for private schools this year.

College Board President Gaston Caperton, a former West Virginia governor, said increasing the number of college graduates is critical to U.S. economic growth. He pointed out that China produced more than eight times as many engineering graduates than the United States last year, and India graduated five times as many engineers.

"Affordability is essential to opportunity," Caperton said of the need to boost college enrollment and graduation in the United States.

As college costs rise, students and their families are borrowing more to cover the expenses, the reports noted.

And the financial aid pool also is strained by policies that benefit affluent families, through tax credits and "merit" scholarships that reward students with higher test scores or grades.

University of Maryland Chancellor William Kirwan said that merit scholarships often go to students who would attend college anyway, while diverting funds from low-income students.

Within the lowest socioeconomic quartile, 75 percent of high-scoring eighth-graders eventually enrolled in college, but only 29 percent earned college degrees by eight years after high school graduation.

Ninety-nine percent of high-scoring eighth graders within the highest socioeconomic quartile attended college, with 74 percent earning degrees.