Hispanics hit hard by tuition tab
The report found that the cost of tuition for four-year public institutions rose by $2,786 between 2000 and 2005. Meanwhile, the Hispanic median household income fell by 4 percent.
The total cost of college is 32 percent of the Hispanic median household income, compared to 24 percent of a white family's median household income, the report said.
"The full cost of college for one year at a public university now consumes fully one-third of the income of a family of Latinos," said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future. "College is simply getting priced out of reach for more and more deserving students."
In Utah, a state where tuition is relatively affordable compared to other states, the Utah System of Higher Education estimates tuition costs rose $2,555 from 2000 to 2005. Tuition costs about 22 percent of the median Hispanic household income and 17.2 percent of the white median household income.
Richard Kendell, Utah's higher education commissioner, said increasing participation and completion of higher education among minorities is a priority.
He said tuition hikes are the result, in Utah and elsewhere, of state legislatures reducing funding for higher education institutions.
Kendall said for the last two years higher education institutions have proposed lawmakers freeze the ratio of instructor raises that are paid by the state, versus tuition raises.
Currently students pay anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of pay raises. He'd like to see a set ratio of 25 percent.
There is a state scholarship program to bolster Pell Grants for qualified students who complete rigorous course work, or who major in math or science fields. And Kendell said there are also efforts to educate the public on the value of a college education.
"It's almost got to be a cultural movement across Utah to encourage people to stay in school," he said.
In a heated election year, Brent Wilkes, executive director of the advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens, challenged both parties to reverse trends such as recently raising interest rates on student loans and cutting $12 billion from the federal program.
"The idea that you can work hard and go to college on your earnings is now starting to be a fallacy," he said. "We really are very, very concerned that it has gotten to a point that college has gotten out of reach."
The report is available online at www.ourfuture.org.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com
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