In My Opinion: Making Higher Education Affordable for Everyone
"Sadly, many of America's poor children may never get that opportunity unless something changes. "
From the Fall 2006 Pacific Review
By Donald V. DeRosa
During May's Commencement address, alumnus Jose M. Hernandez '84 stood before more than 5,000 graduates, family members and friends and reminisced about his childhood days as a migrant farm worker.
He recalled sitting in his family's car "tired, dusty, and sweaty" after a hard day's work and hearing his parents' words - words that never left him.
"My parents would always sum up the day by emphasizing this would be our future if we decided not to stay in school and study," said Hernandez, who went on to earn a master's degree in electrical engineering after graduating from Pacific, and achieved his dream of becoming a NASA astronaut.
Jose's message came to mind this summer, when I was driving through the Valley, where I saw boys and girls working alongside their parents in the fields and orchards. I wondered how many of them were like Jose, children of extraordinary promise, who could achieve great things if given the opportunity to experience an outstanding, student-centered education.
Sadly, many of America's poor children may never get that opportunity unless something changes. Just a week before Jose told us his story, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a study documenting the low numbers of economically-disadvantaged students in selective universities.
The publication examined the percentages of students who received a Pell Grant while attending the 100 wealthiest universities in the nation (based on their endowments). The federal grants are awarded to undergraduates who have demonstrated economic need.
Another study released in July by the Association of American Colleges and Universities found that a decreasing percentage of students at independent colleges and universities in California are receiving Pell Grants. Researchers involved with the study compared data from 2000 and 2004 submitted by 22 independent institutions of higher education. According to the report, the average percentage of students who received Pell Grants decreased from 26 to 23 percent. And the average percentage of underrepresented minority students who received the grants decreased from 45 to 41 percent.
Many more outstanding students, who come from difficult backgrounds, including poverty, unstable households and foster homes, deserve those grants as they strive to fulfill that extraordinary promise.
We are committed to giving every deserving student the opportunity to receive a superior education. Last year, Pacific awarded $23.6 million in need-based grants from its own resources. Much of the funding comes from generous alumni like the late Dorothy Ketman '20, a retired music teacher from the Bay Area. Pacific's oldest living graduate when she passed away at age 105, Mrs. Ketman left Pacific $2 million to establish an endowed scholarship to be awarded on the basis of financial need and academic ability.
Overall, more Pacific students receive federal grants than at many private institutions throughout California. On average, 18 percent of the students at our peer institutions received federal grants in 2005, compared to 29 percent of the student body at Pacific.
Pacific has long been a leader in opening its doors to students from low-income families. The Community Involvement Program (CIP), established in 1969, provides full scholarships to qualified local students, like Jose, who represent the first generation in their families to attend college. Over the years, the University has invested more than $30 million in CIP.
While I am so very proud of how Pacific is addressing this issue, as a higher education leader I continue to be concerned for the future of our young people nationally.
Some of the nation's wealthiest private institutions recently have announced that
they are increasing the amount of aid they will grant to students with the highest need. That's
a step in the right direction. But more needs to be done.
Thirty years ago, a Pell Grant covered nearly 40 percent of the average cost of attending a four-year private college. Today it covers just 15 percent. Public policy has shifted away from grants and toward loans.
In a 2005 report titled "Trends in Student Aid," The College Board, an association comprised of more than 5,000 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations, found that "almost half of the student aid used by undergraduate and graduate students to finance postsecondary education is in the form of loans from the federal government."
As a result of this shift toward student loans, many graduates are beginning their adult lives deeply in debt. It's time to rethink public policy to help make higher education affordable again.
More than 40 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson called on our nation to mount
a "war on poverty." He reminded Americans that the root cause of poverty includes "our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities, "in a lack of education and training."
When LBJ spoke those words, Jose Hernandez was a small boy toiling in the fields of the Central Valley. Today, he is flying high above those fields and literally among the stars, thanks to the educational opportunities he received here at Pacific. Let's keep the doors of opportunity open for the next generation.