Friday, January 6, 2017

Why even community college is now out of reach for many students - JILLIAN BERMAN, Marketwatch

In more than two-thirds of states, the share of the median family income required to attend a community college full-time grew by as much as 5% between 2008 and 2013, according to a report from the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. As a result, it’s harder for students to finance a community college degree — in 37 states, students have to work 20 hours a week or more at a minimum-wage job in order to afford to attend community college full time, the report found. The study “counters the idea that there’s always a community college, that there’s always a safety net,” for low-income Americans seeking a higher education, said Joni Finney, the director of the research institute and one of the authors of the report. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-even-community-college-is-now-out-of-reach-for-many-students-2016-12-15