NJPP: New Jersey’s Cuts to Higher Education Are Shortchanging Future Generations
NJPP: New Jersey’s Cuts to Higher Education Are Shortchanging Future Generations
TRENTON – New Jersey’s inadequate public investment in higher education over the last decade has contributed to rising tuition prices, often leaving students with little choice but to take on more debt or give up on their dreams of going to college. The problem is especially serious for Black, Latinx, and low-income students.
New Jersey is one of 45 states that spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008 – even as the economy and state budgets have returned to pre-recession levels, according to Unkept Promises: State Cuts to Higher Education Threaten Access and Equity, a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
2008 – 2018 Cuts to Higher Education Funding (adjusted for inflation):
- NJ Average: 23.5 percent per student or $2,387 per student
- U.S. Average: 16 percent per student or $1,502 per student
Cuts to higher education have helped drive up the cost of attending public colleges and universities. Between 2008 and 2018, the average tuition at public four-year institutions in New Jersey grew by 17.6 percent, or $2,075.
“Pushing the cost of a college education onto students and their families will not make our state stronger,” said Brandon McKoy, Director of Government and Public Affairs of New Jersey Policy Perspective. “Only by adequately investing in higher education will we be able to create a New Jersey in which everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”
Americans’ slow income growth has worsened the situation. While the average tuition bill increased by 36 percent between 2008 and 2018, median incomes grew by just over 2 percent. Nationally, the average tuition at a four-year public college accounted for 16.5 percent of median household income in 2017, up from 14 percent in 2008.
In New Jersey, a college education is even less affordable, especially for Black and Latinx families. In 2017, the average tuition and fees at a public four-year university accounted for:
- 17 percent of median household income for all New Jersey families
- 27 percent of median household income for Black New Jersey families
- 25 percent of median household income for Latinx New Jersey families
“The rising cost of college risks blocking one of America’s most important paths to economic mobility. And while these costs hinder progress for everyone, Black, Latinx, and low-income students continue to face the most significant barriers to opportunity,” said Michael Mitchell, senior policy analyst at CBPP and lead author of the report.
Federal and state financial aid has failed to bridge the gap created by rising tuition and relatively stagnant incomes. As a result, the share of students graduating with debt has risen. Between the 2008 and 2015 school years, the share of students graduating with debt from a public four-year institution rose from 55 percent to 59 percent nationally. The average amount of debt also increased during this period. On average, bachelor’s degree recipients at four-year public schools saw their debt grow by 26 percent (from $21,226 to $27,000). By contrast, the average amount of debt rose by only about one percent in the six years prior to the recession.
A large and growing share of future jobs will require college-educated workers. Sufficient public investment in higher education would help New Jersey develop the skilled and diverse workforce it needs to match the jobs of the future.
New Jersey has ignored these long-term economic demands, instead directing public resources to exorbitant tax subsidies for wealthy corporations. Since 1996, the state has handed out over $8.9 billion in tax subsidies, with most of those dollars being awarded after 2009. Large corporations like Holtec International, Lockheed Martin and JP Morgan Chase have been some of the largest recipients. Meanwhile, the state’s public colleges and universities have seen a reduction in critical financial support.
“To succeed in tomorrow’s economy, states must strengthen their future workforce by investing today in higher education,” said Mitchell.
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Unkept Promises: State Cuts to Higher Education Threaten Access and Equity is on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website: https://www.cbpp.org/
