An increasing number of public colleges are unaffordable for low-income students
“In the popular imagination, public colleges are a place where a state’s students from all walks of life can gather, learn from each other and earn the type of education that will help them succeed beyond graduation. But new research suggests many of these schools are becoming increasingly out of reach for low-income students, putting that ideal in danger. At 52% of public colleges, students from families that earned $30,000 per year or less paid at least $10,000 annually to attend during the 2015-2016 academic year, according a report released Wednesday by New America, a Washington-based think tank. That’s up from just 34% of public colleges in the 2010-2011 academic year.”