Higher-priced higher ed

The Providence Journal: For the second straight year, the cost of getting a college education at a public school has risen dramatically. According to a yearly survey by the College Board, the average price climbed 10.5 percent this year, augmenting last year's 13 percent increase at a time of about 2.5 percent inflation. The average tuition bill now stands at $5,132.
Costs at private schools and community colleges are up as well. The average private college now costs more than $20,000 a year, up about 6 percent over last year. Community-college bills rose roughly 9 percent, to a little over $2,000.
Americans are rightly alarmed by such news. A college education has become an important ticket to a secure economic future. Yet, with college looking increasingly unaffordable, many in the middle class, and especially students from low-income families, now see this vital tool of upward mobility as beyond reach.
To an extent, scholarships, tuition tax credits and loan programs have come to the rescue. But at state institutions, the burden is increasingly shifting away from public support and onto the backs of individual students. At the same time, a long-standing tradition of need-based aid has steadily eroded. The merit-based aid that has replaced it tends to favor upper-income and suburban students.
Budget shortfall
Federal Pell grants, aimed at lower-income students, have not kept pace with rising costs. Although more students are receiving them, the size of the average grant has fallen. And the program faces a budget shortfall.
Nevertheless, a study by the American Council on Education recently found that tens of thousands of eligible students are not applying for the grants. Some simply do not know they qualify; others are discouraged by the complexity of the form. Still others are unaware that they qualify for federal loans.
Congress and the states can do more to fortify these programs, and to spread the word. But it is also important for the states to renew their commitment to higher education. Many fiscally pressed states have cut their appropriations in recent years.