How did college go from being the doorway to the American dream to the nightmare of starting adult life deep in debt, unsure of whether your degree will help you get a job that even pays enough to pay off that debt.
Improving the student accounts process sounds about as sexy as a root canal, which is part of why so many institutions have avoided upgrading processes that could earn thousands or even millions in lost revenue.
In the last 15 years, states have slashed funding for colleges, spending $6.6 billion less on higher education in 2018 than they did in 2008. Colleges opted to shift more of the cost burden onto students by increasing tuition.
A recent report released by The Institute for College Access and Success revealed that among all public four-year California colleges and universities, Chico State students graduated with the lowest total federal debt in the 2019-20 school year.
University of Pittsburgh students will pay 3.5%, or $668, more in tuition this fall, becoming the latest in a growing number of college undergraduates nationally hit by record inflation now topping 9% that is straining campuses already stretched by the pandemic and soft enrollment.
