University Business - April 2009 - (Page 41)

INDEPENDENT OUTLOOK Access Matters Ensuring that preserving access to higher education becomes part of a national dialogue By George Martin N MAY 1994, ENRIQUETA COR tez became the ﬁrst Hispanic woman in Texas to earn a PhD in physical chemistry. Just a decade earlier, no one could have foreseen her achievement. As a high school student in the Rio Grande Valley, Enriqueta followed the cotton crop more than the school football team. She changed schools numerous times, as her family moved frequently in search of work. Her parents relied on her ﬁnancial contribution, and they expected that she would forgo college to continue helping them and her 12 siblings. Despite the challenges of migrant life, Enriqueta graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. She convinced her family to allow her to pursue a college education, and she enrolled at St. Edward’s University (Texas) as part of the 1983 cohort of 102 students in the university’s College Assistance Migrant Program. For the past 37 years, that program has provided full tuition, room, board, and support services for sons and daughters of migrant farm workers. In 1988, she completed her BS in chemistry and mathematics. ere are millions of stories like Enriqueta’s and many waiting to be told, as high school students across the country make plans for entering college. What will happen to these students as colleges and universities struggle with the most serious ﬁnancial disruption since the Great Depression? Shrunken endowments, budget cuts, layoﬀs, downsizing, and postponement of capital projects headline today’s news. And while resources decline, needs are soaring. As institutional leaders examine the universitybusiness.com I University leaders will face hard choices that imperil American ideals about higher education access. bottom line, there is little doubt they will face hard choices that imperil American ideals about access to higher education. Preserving access is about preserving the country’s quality of life and educating the workforce of the 21st century. College and university leaders can ﬁnd a solution only if they join forces with government to secure resources adequate to the task. President Barack Obama oﬀered hope for such an alliance in his February 24th speech to Congress, in which he declared that “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” THE HARDEST HIT e current economic crisis cuts across class lines. As middle-class families have watched their retirement accounts lose 30 to 40 percent of their value, they have lost the ﬁnancial conﬁdence that characterized the last two decades. Even if they have jobs, they no longer have home equity and other forms of easy credit with which to pay tuition. Economically disadvantaged families have been hit even harder, increasing the amount of ﬁnancial aid they need. As jobless rates increase, the ranks of families needing ﬁnancial aid will swell, a phenomenon that will probably exist for several years. Meanwhile, student debt will accelerate. To address the problem, some university presidents have promised to increase ﬁnancial aid, but despite good intentions, resources are likely to be insuﬃcient. And while the increase in Pell Grants to $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010 is encouraging, the grants are a minor element in the total cost of college attendance. ese immediate problems are merely a preview of what’s to come. e longterm situation will be even more complex. Students in need of ﬁnancial aid will constitute larger percentages of college populations as the mid-century approaches. And the gap between wage and tuition increases is more likely to grow than to diminish. MOTIVATION FOR MISSION To make the case for public policies that expand ﬁnancial aid and access to higher education, universities must shift the argument beyond equal opportunity. Even though equal opportunity is an obvious issue in ﬁnancial aid policy, historically it has not been compelling enough to fully address the problems. A successful case must add self-serving motivations, the kind that economists suggest are critical to attracting support for public George Martin is president of St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. April 2009 | 41 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2009

University Business - April 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
Company Index
Advisory Board
College Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Internet Technology
Financial Aid
The Main Event
Software Serves
Managing the Experience
Independent Outlook
What's New
End Note

University Business - April 2009