CITYWIDE A college education may pay off in the future, but it does nothing to fill an empty wallet today.
This year, approximately 90,000 students will graduate from high schools in Los Angeles County and many are expected to attend either a junior college or a four-year university.
But whether or not these students and their families will be able to afford higher education is a whole other story.
“Higher education has increased faster than the cost of health care,” said Diana Fuentes-Michel, executive director of California Student Aid Commission.
Startling, considering that the cost of health care has rapidly gone up in recent years.
The cost of higher education has grown 300 percent over the past 10 years, according to Fuentes-Michel, citing a statistic she recently learned at a conference.
Aside from inflation, part of the reason behind the rising costs to attend college is due to the decline in state funding to public universities and community colleges. During the 1980s, the state earmarked approximately 16 percent of its general fund to support higher education. That number has dropped to 11 percent this fiscal year.
But even at that, the cost of attending a University of California or California State University is drastically less expensive than a private school such as Stanford University or the University of Southern California where the annual tuition alone could be as much as a household’s entire income.
For example, the price tag to attend a University of California school can cost close to $23,000 per year including tuition and housing. While at private schools, that cost could be as much as $40,000 annually.
Luckily, there are ways to make the college experience more affordable and accessible.
High school seniors have until March 2 to submit their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a comprehensive application that is submitted to seek financial assistance at the federal, state, local or school level.
“The bigger the school, the more money the school will have,” said Steve Myrow, the director of financial aid at Santa Monica College.
Financial aid is like a totem pole, Myrow explained, with the University of California schools at the top with the most money, followed by the California State University and then community colleges.
As for state financial aid, students in California have the option to receive funding from the Cal Grant program, which awards students up to $9,700 a year for tuition and cost of living expenses. The beauty of the grant that sets it apart from a loan — it doesn’t have to be repaid, meaning students won’t face a mountain of debt upon graduation.
Last year, the California Student Aid Commission offered nearly $900 million in Cal Grant funds to 290,000 college-bound students.
All students are encouraged to apply, though there is a perception that only low-income students will qualify.
“What we’ve been trying to do is communicate that every students should fill it out,” Fuentes-Michel said. “You really don’t know unless you’ve applied.”
For students who have been rejected by Cal Grant and other forms of state and federal funding, scholarships could be an avenue to explore.
At Santa Monica College, donors have provided funding to a foundation that is specifically designed to grant scholarships to students. Many schools and independent foundations have created race and major specific scholarships, such as scholarships for African-American students or financial assistance for engineering students.
“Most scholarships are through the school,” Myrow said. “Scholarships are nebulous when you get away from those on campus.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 19, 2007. Read the original PDF.