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The Recession Will End… When I Can Afford College

Says who: College Board, the not-for-profit responsible for the SAT, the PSAT/NMSQT, and the Advanced Placement Program

“Our studentPOLL study, a random national sample of high school seniors who registered and/or took the SAT, found that the recession is having a considerable impact on two-thirds of these students and their families. Nearly one-third indicated that their parents’ income had declined, 23 percent reported that their family had fallen on hard times, and one in six revealed that the current economic circumstances have forced them to change their college plans.” (via College Board)

Why it might be false: In a recent Gallup poll commissioned by student loan provider Sallie Mae, more than half of U.S. parents indicated that they plan to pay for all or part of their children’s college expenses with their current income and are confident they can continue to support them despite the recession.

Why it could be true: When Gallup asked parents to rank their worries about paying for college, they overwhelming said a hike in tuition topped the list.

Yet another survey taken earlier this year noted that the recession pressured more than 70 percent of prospective college students to alter their plans for the following school year, with 53 percent of them entertaining the idea of attending a less expensive college, and 47 percent planning to work in their first year of school. With such a drastic a depletion in saved 529s and income, a rebound in students’ and parents’ confidence to pay for a college education would be signs of a growing market.

Our call:  A 529 rebound and more secure parents’ incomes will signal and end to the recession, and aspiring higher education students and their parents will undoubtedly breathe a sigh of relief that a college degree will be more accessible. All of this is great, but it’s also only one side of the college tuition equation.  Even if 529s rebound and parents are more secure in their jobs, rampant increases in college tuition will obliterate that sense of relief as students and parents turn up the speed on the seemingly never-ending college tuition treadmill. While the ability to pay for college is undoubtedly a positive change, we can’t forget that there are deeper inefficiencies in the costs of a college education that are rising faster than salaries and availability of student loans.

Tags: college, economy, recession, recovery, The Recession Will End...