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U.S.C. Will Offer Free Tuition to Low-Income Students Amid Stark Inequality, U.S.C. Offers Free Tuition to Low-Income Students
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In a striking recognition that college has become unaffordable for many middle-class students, the University of Southern California announced Thursday that it would make tuition free for students from families with an annual income of $80,000 or less, starting in the fall. It is the latest private college to do so amid growing concern about the rising cost of tuition across the country. The University of Southern California announced Thursday that it would wipe out tuition for students from lower and middle-income families, becoming the latest institution to confront skyrocketing costs amid a national debate over rising student debt loads.
As the major private university in Southern California, U.S.C. plays an outsize role in Los Angeles, giving the move high symbolic as well as practical value. Other schools, like Harvard and Stanford, offer tuition-free education or deep discounts to families earning up to $150,000, but they have much bigger endowments. American students from families with annual incomes of $80,000 or less will be eligible for the full undergraduate tuition waiver at U.S.C. starting in the fall. The move comes as the school is attempting to draw students with more socio-economic diversity, competing with both the University of California system and prestigious private universities like Stanford and Yale that offer generous financial aid programs.
U.S.C.’s president, Carol L. Folt, who was hired last year, said the offer of free tuition would help the university compete for lower-income students who might otherwise go California’s public system, which is relatively generous with financial aid and offers significantly lower costs. U.S.C. is one of the largest private universities in the country, and its palm tree-lined campus of 48,500 students, where the children of immigrants study alongside those of celebrities, plays an outsize role in Los Angeles, a city wrestling with income inequality. The class divide was further emphasized by last year’s college admissions scandal, in which numerous wealthy parents were accused of bribing their children’s way into the school.
“More students who want to come to U.S.C. will be able to choose that,” she said. In the last decade, U.S.C. has recruited pre-eminent faculty and poured money into research to become a top-tier academic institution and athletic powerhouse. But it has also been rocked by scandal, including accusations of sexual misconduct by the longtime head gynecologist of the university’s health center, and the resignation of the dean of the medical school over allegations of drug use on campus.
The university will also take into account the skyrocketing value of housing in Southern California; owning a home will no longer be counted in the calculation used to determine a student’s financial need. High real estate prices can exaggerate the wealth of families who have a large part of their net worth tied up in their homes. U.S.C.’s president, Carol L. Folt, who was hired last year, said the offer of free tuition would help the university compete for students who might otherwise go to California’s public system, which is relatively generous with financial aid and offers significantly lower costs. “More students who want to come to U.S.C. will be able to choose that,” she said.
Tuition at U.S.C. was roughly $57,000 this academic year, but the total cost of attending, including housing, food and books, reached almost $77,500.
In offering financial support, the university will also take into account the skyrocketing cost of living in Southern California, Dr. Folt said. Owning a home will no longer be considered in the calculation used to determine a student’s financial need.
High real estate prices can exaggerate the wealth of lower- and middle-class families who have a large part of their net worth tied up in their homes.
“People work so hard to have a house,” Dr. Folt said, “and we didn’t want that to count against their chances of having their kids going to the school.”“People work so hard to have a house,” Dr. Folt said, “and we didn’t want that to count against their chances of having their kids going to the school.”
In the last decade, U.S.C. has worked to become a top-tier academic institution, but the elite private campus of 44,000 students in the heart of Los Angeles has also been rocked by scandal, including revelations that a longtime head gynecologist of the university’s health center had been accused of sexual misconduct, and the resignation of the dean of the medical school over allegations of drug use on campus. Other private schools around the country have moved to promote racial, ethnic and income diversity by reducing the price of college. The free-tuition movement has been concentrated at opposite ends of the educational spectrum, in community colleges in cities like Chicago and states like Tennessee, as well as in the most elite schools.
Then last year, dozens of wealthy parents were accused of bribing their children’s way into the school, bringing renewed attention to class divides on a campus where the offspring of celebrities and real estate moguls study alongside the children of nannies and dishwashers. Both Harvard and Stanford make tuition free or close to it for students from families with incomes of up to $150,000, nearly twice what U.S.C. will offer.
“It’s fitting that U.S.C., which was at the center of the Varsity Blues scandal, would take this important step,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who studies college costs for low-income students. States have also sought to reduce costs at their public colleges, with nearly half, including New York, Oregon and Tennessee, guaranteeing free tuition at two- or four-year schools to their lowest-income residents. New Mexico lawmakers are debating a plan to make tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities free for all residents. And the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Dr. Folt was chancellor until recently, has steadily increased its percentage of low-income students.
But he said offering more financial aid would not be enough to increase diversity on campus unless it is coupled with other admissions reforms, like a willingness to give low-income students a break on SAT scores, which strongly correlate with income. U.S.C.’s plan takes a page out of the University of California’s playbook, setting the same family income limit for tuition-free education — $80,000 — as the public system’s “Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan.” U.S.C. said it will increase the amount of undergraduate aid it offers by more than $30 million a year, mainly through philanthropy, giving more help to 4,000 students a year.
“You can have the most generous financial aid in the world, but if low-income students aren’t admitted, socioeconomic diversity won’t rise,” he said. About a third of the fall 2020 and spring 2021 entering classes will benefit either from free tuition or larger aid packages, the school said. “This will be a focus of our fund-raising efforts going forward,” said Eric Abelev, a school spokesman. Its last campaign raised $7 billion, including $636 million for scholarship support.
U.S.C.’s announcement comes amid a national push to make college tuition more affordable. About 42 million borrowers owe $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loans across America, experts say. Wiping out student debt and providing free college tuition have become major points of debate in the presidential campaign. Currently, 31 percent of U.S.C.’s undergraduate students come from families in the bottom 60 percent of income earners nationwide, the school said. The student body, including graduate and undergraduate students, is 29 percent white, 5.3 percent African-American, 16.9 percent Asian-American, and 14.6 percent Hispanic, with 25.4 percent from other countries.
Continually rising college costs mean that debt load isn’t likely to drop much in the next few decades. The average student borrower takes out about $26,000 in loans over the course of earning a bachelor’s degree — debt that is impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, difficult to have forgiven and increasingly unlikely to be fully repaid on schedule. “It’s fitting that U.S.C., which was at the center of the Varsity Blues scandal, would take this important step,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who studies college opportunity for low-income students.
Tuition at U.S.C. was roughly $57,000 this academic year, with the total cost of attending, including housing, food and books, reaching almost $77,500. But for U.S.C. to truly change the socioeconomic balance of its student body, the school would probably have to admit some applicants with lower SAT scores, which correlate strongly with the advantages that come from growing up in a higher-income family, Mr. Kahlenberg said.
While acknowledging the need to help more people afford college, Dr. Folt defended the high cost, saying it was an outgrowth of the many opportunities for research, travel and learning that an institution like U.S.C. provides. U.S.C.’s announcement comes amid a national push to make college tuition more affordable. About 42 million borrowers owe $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loans across America, experts say. Relieving student debt and providing some level of free public college tuition have become universal goals of the Democratic presidential candidates, although their plans differ in who would be covered and for how much.
Some low- and middle-income students have been scared off by college debt from even attempting to go to the best college they are qualified for, potentially reducing their future earnings, studies show.
Experts point out that even if tuition is free, other college costs remain substantial and can be prohibitive for students of modest means. And continually rising costs mean that the debt load on Americans isn’t likely to drop much in the next few decades, despite efforts such as U.S.C.’s. The average student borrower takes out about $26,000 in loans over the course of earning a bachelor’s degree — debt that is impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, difficult to have forgiven and increasingly unlikely to be fully repaid on schedule.
While acknowledging the need to help more people afford college, Dr. Folt defended the high cost of schools like hers, saying it was an outgrowth of the many opportunities for research, travel and learning that an institution like U.S.C. provides.
“It’s expensive to do,” she said. “Wherever we can make it so the cost is not prohibitive, I think that’s where we focus our efforts.”“It’s expensive to do,” she said. “Wherever we can make it so the cost is not prohibitive, I think that’s where we focus our efforts.”