FORUM Reining in costs of college

The rising cost of higher education is a 'national crisis,' one participant said.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
WASHINGTON -- Everyone agrees that getting a college degree, even at a state university, has become too expensive, but there is no consensus on how to solve the problem.
At a forum Tuesday sponsored by the Atlantic Monthly, experts proposed giving more federal aid to students in their first years of college, creating programs to allow some students to graduate debt-free and making sure students can transfer from community colleges to state universities without losing credit hours.
Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said the situation is a "national crisis."
A report by the College Board in October 2003 said the total cost of attending a public four-year school rose 10 percent in a single year when room and board were added in.
Almost half of the nation's high school students who are prepared academically can't afford to attend a four-year institution, and more than 20 percent can't even afford community college, said McKeon, who chairs the House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness. Higher education is one of the subcommittee's focuses.
Competition
The problem is complex, with universities competing to get better students, professors and research grants while funding from state governments is shrinking, the panelists said.
Unlike other free-enterprise markets, "There simply is no demand for low-quality, low-cost education," said C.D. Mote Jr., president of the University of Maryland. "It just isn't there."
Public colleges vary in quality and cost, giving students different options, said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Eugene Hickok. He pointed out that U.S. News and World Report ranks schools according to both their value and quality.
McKeon said more students should consider community colleges. He said students can spend a year or two taking core requirements and deciding a course of study, then use the money they've saved to finish their degrees at a four-year institution.
"We need to be more discriminating buyers. A lot of people think they need to go to Harvard or they have to go to Cal-Tech," he said.
At a community college, "you can get a good start, a good foundation. In fact, a lot of times you can fit in a lot better."