As Congress nears
the time to deal with another fiscal cliff and more talk of sequestration, some
higher education officials in West Virginia
wonder if the futures of some students are at stake.
The Pell grant program, which helps mainly low-income
undergraduate students, could be affected by the next round of cuts in federal
spending.
And that could affect thousands of West
Virginians enrolled in two-year and four-year programs.
"We see the federal government say we want to see people go
to college, yet Pell money is being cut," said Duane Chapman, vice president for enrollment management at Glenville State College.
And changes to Pell grants are one of the trends facing
four-year schools across the state. In the state with the one of the lowest
median household incomes, financial aid is important to the majority of
undergraduates.
"Essentially, every student here has some kind of aid, whether
that comes from state, federal or university. We're still looking for the
person who writes a check and covers it all. That's not how it works in higher
education anymore," said Edwin H. Welch,
president of the University of Charleston.
Pell grants
According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, 63,967 West Virginians
received help from the Pell grant program in the 2010-11 school year. Those
students received a total of about $251.8 million, for an average award of
$754.
Students who were listed as dependents on their parents'
income tax returns received most of that money. Those attending state and
private four-year schools and state two-year schools received more than $160
million of that, and more than half came from families with reported income of
less than $20,000.
Students from families with incomes between $15,000 and
$20,000 and who attended a state-supported four-year school received about
$4,359 on average, according to Department of Education figures.
The percentage of students receiving Pell grants is high at
many institutions, even at private ones where the stereotype is of an affluent
student body. At most private schools in Appalachia,
students receiving Pell grants make up 40 to 45 percent of undergraduate
enrollment. At the University of Charleston,
it's usually in the 37 to 42 percent range, Welch said.
That doesn't fit the stereotype of a private school, but
it's the reality, he said.
Shepherd and Glenville
Sandra Bennett,
director of financial aid at Shepherd University,
agreed with Welch's statement that students whose families can write a check to
take care of tuition and fees are rare in West Virginia.
But that should not stop prospective students from pursuing higher education,
she said.
"Student loans are definitely increasing, but for a West
Virginia resident, if a student is eligible for a
Pell grant, a Promise scholarship and an HEGP (state need-based aid), they can
go to a variety of institutions and come out without debt," Bennett said.
The typical story of a student leaving school deeply in debt
usually involves someone who went to an out-of-state school and finished a
graduate program, Bennett said.
Chapman at Glenville said students need to use the Internet
and diligence to find other aid opportunities that are out there, usually in a
specific career field.
"There are scholarships out there that you're going to have
to search for," he said.
And while some high school students are being advised to
consider taking their first two years at a community and technical college to
save money, neither Glenville nor Shepherd has seen an increase in people
wanting to transfer from the CTC system, Bennett and Chapman said.
"I haven't noticed a lot of students pursuing that route.
The cost differential right now isn't that great," Bennett said.
University of Charleston
UC's goal is to provide students with an Ivy League
education and the University of Charleston's
private school experience at a public university cost. That's not been reached
yet, but it's the goal, Welch said.
Meanwhile, expectations of what a university should provide
has changed, he said.
"Education is becoming more of a commodity. I want a
certificate. And what's the certificate going to cost me?" he said.
Schools must show the students what they get for the money,
Welch said.
Welch acknowledged that students, parents and others
complain about the rising cost of tuition. But, he said, demands from
accrediting agencies and state and federal regulators about class size, the
number of people needed in business and other offices combined with students'
demand for amenities such as fitness centers, drive up expenses and thus
tuition and fees.
In response to that, this year UC guarantees every student
$6,000 worth of financial aid, meaning other sources must be tapped to come up
with the $19,500 tuition.
"We thought last year when we reduced tuition that we would
have a lot more students apply. We had more inquiries but not an increase in
applications. We have an increase in enrollment," Welch said.
That's because those who applied were more serious about
considering UC. Apparently, fewer prospective students are applying to several
colleges and then picking one from those where they are accepted, Welch said.
What aid doesn't pay for, loans usually do, Welch said.
UC has seen an increase in federal student loans. Usually,
parents take out the loans for students in the first year, and the students
take over after that, Welch said.
After UC took over most of Mountain
State University's
operations a few months ago, the school now has a two-tiered system of tuition
and fees. At the main campus, which offers a variety of activities common to
universities, tuition is high, and financial aid is available. At the former
MSU campuses at Beckley and
Martinsburg, tuition and fees are lower, but less aid is available because
students tend to want to know the net price up front.
UC has taken over MSU's online infrastructure to reach that
market now, Welch said.
Since 2008, UC has seen a trend of losing first-year
students to CTCs. That year the school lost 43 students who applied, were
accepted and had registered for classes, Welch said.
UC has seen an increase in the number of students
transferring in after a year or two in a CTC. The school has articulation
agreements with Bridgemont and Kanawha Valley CTCs to make the transition
easier, and it is negotiating with two others.
"And I think that will be a route that more people will
take," Welch said.
The downside for UC and other four-year schools is that
higher-level classes are more expensive to offer than freshman- and
sophomore-level classes.
"The business model gets skewed," Welch said.
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