Cost of Attendance Report for 1997
Are Our Colleges Able to Meet Need?
Since most financial aid is administered at the campus level, the Department
of Higher Education currently does not have a statewide reporting system or
corresponding data base which would enable it to assess how well colleges and
universities are meeting student financial need. Unofficial and unaudited
information provided by our public four-year institutions shows that a growing
proportion of student financial need is being met by loans, as opposed to grants
or waivers, even for the neediest students. At the University of Connecticut and
the Connecticut State University, most of the neediest freshmen (those eligible
for federal Pell grants) are given over $2,600 in Stafford loans in addition to
Perkins Loans, grants and employment. This loan amount increases to $3,500 in
their sophomore year and $5,500 in each of their last two years. Assuming these
students continue for four years, they each will leave the University with over
$17,100 in outstanding debt even before they enter the workplace. This is a
significant obligation to ask students to take on, particularly for those
at-risk. It also may be a significant factor in a student’s decision to attend
part-time and work, instead of attending full-time.
Equally important is the fact that many colleges and universities cannot meet
the total demand for financial aid, even with subsidized loans and other
institutional resources. The University of Connecticut reports that for this
year, it had an unmet financial need figure of almost $17.3 million. This is
after awarding a total of $75.2 million in federal, state and institutional aid
and $31.8 million from miscellaneous outside sources.9 At the
Connecticut State University, about $18 million of financial need went unmet
last year. Students and/or their families are left to come up with the rest
through whatever means are available to them. This may include other borrowing
venues such as home equity loans or unsubsidized loans.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Trends
and Challenges
Who
Are Our Students?
How
Much Does It Cost to Go to College in Connecticut?
Can
Connecticut Students Afford to Pay?
How Does Financial Aid Work?
Are Our Colleges
Able to Meet Need?
Are
Connecticut Public Colleges Affordable?
Conclusions
and Recommendations
End Notes
Attachment A
Attachment
B
Attachment C
Attachment D
Attachment
E
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