POLITICS

Rising college costs a threat to future work force

The relative economic stability that New Hampshire has been able to maintain in an increasingly unstable world is based on a number of factors. There is, of course, the lack of a state income or sales tax (although some would argue the tax on rooms and meals is a form of consumption tax). There is the physical beauty of the state coupled with high-speed Internet availability throughout the area so a company can locate almost anywhere in the state and have access to this technology. And, perhaps above all, there is a well-educated work force capable of filling the employment needs of firms coming to the state or established companies seeking to expand.

However, recent events and trends have some experts wondering if the state can maintain this work force in the turbulent economic years to come.

Evan S. Dobelle, CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education, in an article that appeared in the Providence Journal this past May, expressed his concerns. “Our educational institutions may be gateways to opportunity, but too many people – urban youths, non-traditional older students and many returning to a new work force – cannot get in the door,” he wrote. “The global economy demands ever-increasing skills of all workers, and the gaps in income and in quality of life continue to grow between those with college degrees and those without.”

And, according to a study commissioned by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, most New England states can expect declines in the percentage of young workers holding bachelor’s degrees or higher. The foundation placed the blame on the growth of minority populations, which it claims have less economic ability and, therefore, are less likely to go on to higher education than whites.

While the steepest drops in the percentage of the work force that is college-educated are projected for the more populous states of Massachusetts and Connecticut, recent federal and state decisions may very well negate the 1 percent rise in workers with college degrees projected for New Hampshire in the Nellie Mae study. At the federal level, interest rates on older Stafford loans — the basic student loan — went from 5.3 percent to 7.14 percent at the beginning of July.

The interest rates on newer Stafford loans rose to 6.8 percent. What this means is that any student who took out – or is considering taking out – a student loan will have his or her college loan debt increased by between $2,523 and $3,035, according to the Campaign for America’s Future.

“The failure of the current administration and Congress to make college affordable to all qualified students is a disservice to the country,” said the campaign’s co-director, Robert Borosage. “The Republican leadership has allowed interest rates on student loans to rise, increased the interest rate on loans that parents take out to help pay for their children’s education and refused to allow a vote on a bill that would cut interest rates in half on new loans.”

The University System of New Hampshire’s Board of Trustees recognized this issue, and has developed and funded a program called “Affordable College Effort (ACE). This program will be part of a financial aid program available to the neediest first-year students that will pay all the direct costs of attending any of the system’s schools.

While this certainly bodes well for some students, it was accomplished at the expense – literally – of all the students who attend New Hampshire’s land-grant colleges. Tuition costs will increase between $530 and $370 a year at UNH, Plymouth State and Keene State beginning this fall. That increase will mean that without any future increases and taking into account tuition, fees, and room and board, it will cost the average student almost $72,000 to obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree at UNH. The costs at Plymouth State and Keene State will be in excess of $59,000. Add on the increase in federal interest rates and the cost of a four-year college education will be close to $80,000-plus for in-state students at UNH and just slightly less at other university system schools. The cost to out-of-state students has increased to more than $3,400 at UNH, meaning that, without any future tuition hikes, a four-year degree will cost more than $130,000.

If New Hampshire is to maintain its attractiveness to new businesses and continue to be the home of those that wish to expand, the state will have to do better at keeping the cost of supplying a college-educated work force down. The failure to do so threatens our very economic existence.

Shir Haberman is the managing editor for news at the Portsmouth Herald.