I would urge the committee to recognize the serious nature of the college affordability crisis in our nation and state. Please also bear in mind that college affordability is a bigger issue than the cost of tuition. The most debt-burdened Mainers are often low-income students from public colleges.
Good morning Senator Langley, Representative Kornfield, members of the joint committee on education and cultural affairs. My name is James Myall, and I am a policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy. I am here to testify in support of LD 1129, “An Act to Address College Affordability.”
Since this is a concept bill, my testimony will simply lay before you some facts to highlight the urgency of addressing this issue:
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the students at Maine’s public and private 4-year colleges have student debt. The average debt of a Maine graduate is $30,000.[1]
- Despite the lower sticker cost of tuition, graduates of Maine’s public colleges are more likely to be in debt, and have larger student loans to repay. More than three-quarters (77%) of UMaine graduates have student loan debt, and the average debt burden is $33,000.[2]
- Nationwide, student dent loan debt has topped $1.23 trillion, making it the largest source of non-housing borrowing.[3]
- Student loan debt prevents young graduates from buying a house, creating a new business, or starting a family.[4]
- One in four Maine non-dormitory[5] undergraduate students (24%) lives in poverty; just under half (47%) live below 200% of the federal poverty level, or $24,000 for an individual.[6]
- More than one in four (28%) of female undergraduate students in Maine are mothers.[7]
- We know that low-income students, burdened by college expenses, and often trying to balance commitments to school, family, and work, are less likely to enroll in college, and less likely to be able to complete college than their middle- and high-income peers.[8]
- College affordability is about more than just tuition expenses. Cost of living, and basic needs can often push a college student into crisis, and lead them to drop out. One study found that nationwide, half of all students in community colleges are struggling with food or housing insecurity.[9] In Maine, where food insecurity is the highest in New England, the rate may well be higher.[10]
- The Maine Department of Labor predicts that by 2024―that’s just 7 years’ time, one in four jobs will require a bachelor’s degree or higher qualification. Of the high-wage, in-demand jobs of 2024, almost half (48%) will require a BA or higher degree.[11] Lower college enrollment and completion rates will only perpetuate the inequality gap between degree-holders and non-degree holders in Maine.
- Finally, Maine already lags our New England neighbors in the proportion of our working-age population with an associate’s degree or higher qualification. Additionally, some 184,000 Mainers, or one in five people over the age of 25, have some college education but no qualification, not even an associate’s degree.[12] The majority of these have student debt without a qualification to show for it.
I would urge the committee to recognize the serious nature of the college affordability crisis in our nation and state. Please also bear in mind that college affordability is a bigger issue than the cost of tuition. The most debt-burdened Mainers are often low-income students from public colleges.
Thank you. I am happy to take any questions.
[1] http://ticas.org/posd/map-state-data#overlay=posd/state_data/2016/me
[2] http://ticas.org/posd/map-state-data#overlay=posd/state_data/2016/me
[3] https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/new-england-public-policy-center-research-report/2016/student-loan-debt-delinquency-and-default-a-new-england-perspective.aspx
[4] http://www.asa.org/site/assets/files/3793/life_delayed.pdf
[5] The Census Bureau exludes from its poverty measures students who live in group quarters like dormitories.
[6] MECEP analysis of US Census Bureau data, American Community Survey, 2011-15 5-year estimates.
[7] MECEP analysis of US Census Bureau data, American Community Survey, 2011-15 5-year estimates.
[8] http://www.pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2016_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf
[9] http://wihopelab.com/publications/Wisconsin_HOPE_Lab_Hungry_To_Learn.pdf
[10] https://www.gsfb.org/hunger/
[11] MECEP analysis of Maine DoL data.
[12] US Census Bureau, American Community Survey data, 2015 1-year estimates.
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