Parents of college freshmen are reported to have higher incomes than ever before, according to a UCLA report.
The report, The American Freshman: Forty-Year Trends 1966-2006, released by UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program, showed a rise in the reported parental incomes of freshmen in 2005.
Of the 8.3 million first-year students at the 1,201 four-year colleges that participated in the research program, the parental median income of freshmen was reported at $74,000, compared to the national income average of $46,326.
Since 1971, incomes at private universities rose 15.7 percent to $83,500; however, for students at public colleges, the incomes rose 17.1 percent to $73,400, according to the report.
José Luis Santos, UCLA assistant professor of education and an author of the report, said the rise of tuition and fees will have a direct effect on the students from poorer families when more students of wealthier incomes enter college. He added that because the rate of tuition is rising quickly, the need-based aid isn't proportionally available to the students who need it most, especially at public universities
"While we already know richer students usually go to private colleges, now in order to gain prestige and in aspiration of becoming like private universities, public schools have begun shifting more need-based aid to merit-based aid," Santos said.
Since poorer students are more responsive to tuition and aid changes, the trend will cause poorer students to have to decide whether they should even go to college or straight into the workforce, he added.
Santos also noted that the lessening value of the Pell Grant award and the difficulties with understanding the FAFSA process, especially for poorer students, cause the long-term trend rise.
According to the Penn State Fact book, the average tuition of in-state University Park first-year students rose from $11,024 in 2005-2006 to about $12,164 in 2006-2007.
According to the most recent Penn State Report of the tuition task force in April 2002, 29,369 of 55,077 full-time Penn State undergraduate students received grant and/or scholarship assistance that covered at least some of their tuition.
Penn State spokesman Geoff Rushton wrote in an e-mail message that Penn State is pursuing ways to keep college affordable by keeping tuition down and making more financial aid available. He noted the number of scholarship recipients at Penn State has increased over the past decade.
"Penn State and colleges around the nation recognize that affordability in higher education is one of the greatest issues we face and are constantly evaluating and seeking new ways to aid students," he added.
