Private Colleges Do a Job Worth More
by Mary Brown Bullock, President, Agnes Scott College
(GA)
Published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January
7, 2005
Education will be among the top issues considered by the Georgia Legislature
when it reconvenes Monday. Funding for higher education took a huge hit
in Georgia last year and prospects are not yet clear for 2005. The economic
and social stakes couldn't be higher as the growing student population
is poorer and more diverse each year. Concern about college access and
affordability threatens to unravel the American social compact that historically
ensured greater educational mobility from one generation to the next.
Private colleges help ensure access to higher education - a fact that
seems to elude public debate on the issue. One of the greatest transfers
of private wealth in American history is occurring in this sector. In
2001-2002 alone, private colleges and universities provided more than
$11.3 billion in financial aid to the next generation of students - primarily
through alumni-contributed endowments and scholarships.
The myth seems to endure. Public officials and opinion leaders nurture
the fiction of privilege and status at private colleges. A May 2004 Atlanta
Journal-Constitution editorial opposed the HOPE scholarship for part-time
students at independent colleges, noting, "There's no evidence that
the private tuition subsidies from HOPE have benefited student access."
Facts dispel the notion that students from the poorest families primarily
attend state schools. In Georgia, 29 percent of financial aid applicants
at private colleges and universities are from families earning less than
$30,000. At state schools, 26 percent of aid applicants are from families
with the same income level.
Comparisons of minority enrollments at public and private colleges also
might surprise Georgia's decision makers. In a state where 29 percent
of the population is African-American and Hispanics now exceed 5 percent,
27 percent of those enrolled at Georgia's private colleges and universities
are minorities. Include students attending historically black colleges
and universities, and the figure grows to 41.4 percent. These percentages
equal or exceed those at Georgia's public institutions. Agnes Scott, as
Georgia's top-ranked liberal arts college, is particularly proud that
one-third of its students are minorities.
Independent colleges are accessible, affordable and offer strong programs
enabling students to be successful and to graduate on time. Nationally,
students at independent colleges are twice as likely to graduate in four
years as students in state institutions. In Georgia, the six-year graduation
rate for students at four-year institutions is 30.7 percent for state
schools and 47.1 percent for the privates.
Private colleges and universities are improving educational opportunities
for all Georgians. Most Georgia independent colleges offer excess capacity
and could absorb some of the anticipated growth with comparatively modest
additional support from the state. The state pays $8,200 to fund a student
at a state school - without capital expenditures, but only $900 at a private
one with all capital costs borne by the private sector.
State funding for Georgia students attending in-state private colleges
has not kept pace with increases at state institutions. The Tuition Equalization
Grant for students attending private institutions has decreased from $1,000
to only $900. HOPE scholarships have been stagnant for 10 years at $3,000.
A modest proposal would be to increase TEG by $1,000 for each year a student
stayed in college, thus meeting the state's primary goals of retention
and graduation.
The state's first priority must be to rebuild funding for state higher
education. A second priority must be to strengthen the private sector
in Georgia's higher education landscape. Last year Gov. Sonny Perdue and
the state Legislature supported the "Half-HOPE" proposal to
increase lottery-funded scholarship money for independent college and
university students. This signals new opportunity for cooperation - a
great New Year's gift to the people of Georgia.
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Making
the Case
