The Middle Class is Being Priced Out of Education. Now What?

It used to be that an education was anyone’s road to prosperity and opportunity. It’s not so anymore.

In the last 30 years, tuition has increased by more than 1200%, as compared to a 128% CPI. At the same time, middle-class wages have stagnated. Life is hard for the middle class, loosely defined as those making between about 60K-130K per year (based on some math extrapolation and stats). It’s even harder for middle class families with college aged students.

Many colleges provide need-blind admissions and many of the best schools that currently don’t have those resources are building a pathway towards them. When private schools alone can’t cover the cost, the federal and state government steps in to offer grants and low-interest loans. However, many middle class families, especially those living in metropolitan areas with higher than average costs of living, are not eligible for these benefits. It’s even worse for families that own small businesses. This leaves many families to pay more than $50,000 per year to give their children the best college education possible.

They can’t afford that. In short, the middle class is being priced out of receiving top notch educations.

Unfortunately, this has lasting impacts on the American way of life. For the first time in modern America, going to college does not seem like an option to many American high school graduates. What does our country look like once many of our best and brightest won’t be able to attend top tier universities anymore? What happens when our young men and women don’t go to college to receive what are now basic and necessary skills and training? What does our country look like when the middle class doesn’t exist?

While I wish I could answer those questions for you, there are far smarter, better trained, and more experienced men and women in the field who have no response yet. I’m more concerned about why no one who can make a difference seems to care.

Being in DC for the summer makes every intern incredibly passionate about every cause. Maybe its the low pay grade or the Capitol looming over every my every act, but I certainly feel, at least for some short moment, that every issue is an important one. It seems that many staffers and officials feel similarly. In short, there is a belief that every worthy cause deserves a champion.

Yet despite this culture, and the abundance of conversation and stump speeches regarding the topic, it seems that no one is actually acting as a champion for the middle class.

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a panel with a federal student aid official regarding college opportunities. When asked about how we make upper tier colleges (i.e. Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford) affordable for the middle class so that no student has to graduate with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, he had no real response. Instead, I was told the following.

“That’s the fault of the private schools.”

“Students need to look at their choices. And maybe they have to take out loans to pursue some options.”

“Most students aren’t in a position where they ultimately have to take out a hundred thousand dollars in debt.”

No other group of people in America is being told that they need to sacrifice their future financial stability in exchange for tremendous opportunities and a world class education. The federal government isn’t ignoring the plights of any other income group and blaming it on the private sector.

Why is it okay for that to happen to the middle class?

I’m asking those who have a voice to begin to advocate for the middle class. There is clearly a problem in education when the middle class, the people who built America and made it the incredible country that it is, no longer envision education as a road paved with gold. They don’t even have fair opportunities anymore.

The government needs to work alongside private institutions to ensure that every student in this country has the ability to fully embrace all opportunities. That means discussing policies that loosen restrictions regarding the declaration of bankruptcy on student loans, offer high quality public institutions that aren’t overcrowded or infrastructurally struggling, create automatic enrollment in income-based repayment plans, and the creation of so many more potential avenues. The policy options to ameliorate the problem are vast. The issue just needs real attention.

Just try to imagine what happens if the middle class doesn’t exist. That is a cause to champion.