Schools

Can Your Kids Afford College?

According to the California Department of Education, 60.3 percent of all 2008-09 LEUSD high school grads moved on to a postsecondary institution within 16 months of graduation.

More than half of all Lake Elsinore Unified high school students enroll in college or a university somewhere in the nation, but the district’s numbers fall below state averages, according to data from the California Department of Education.

According to the numbers, 60.3 percent of all 2008-09 LEUSD high school grads moved on to a postsecondary institution within 16 months of graduation. Statewide, 74.4 percent of the 2008-09 high school grads enrolled in a college or university within the 16-month period.

The cost of postsecondary education may factor into why some local students don’t on to college.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Nationwide, college students are graduating on average with more than $25,000 in debt, according to a report out Monday from the Associated Press.

For those who start college but don’t graduate, cost may be a factor: About 40 percent of college students at four-year schools aren't graduating, according to the policy and analysis group College Measures. At the community college level, nearly 60 percent of students never transfer or graduate, according to the numbers.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now President Barack Obama is leaning on higher institutions to get tuition costs under control – or at least provide some transparent accounting on what students are getting for their money.

During his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama put this message out to higher-learning institutions: "If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can't be a luxury— it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford."

The president is proposing to slightly reduce federal aid for schools that don't control tuition costs and shift it to those that do. He’s also proposing an $8 billion program to train community college students for high-growth industries that would provide financial incentives to programs that ensure their trainees find work. Both proposals need congressional approval, however.

Click here to read more about how the Lake Elsinore Unified School District is preparing its non-college-bound students to enter the job market after graduation.

The administration is also developing both a "scorecard" for use in comparing college statistics, such as graduation rates, as well as a "shopping sheet" that students would receive from schools they apply to, according to the Associated Press report. The shopping sheet would provide students with estimates of how much debt they might have at the end of their college careers, along with an estimate on future student loan payments.

In a time when unemployment is high, the cost of a college education is front and center for those who want to compete in today’s tough job market.

According to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, it’s now projected that people with a bachelor's degree will earn a million more dollars over their lifetimes than those with only a high school diploma.

Click here to read about an upcoming expo that is helping those in the armed forces learn how to find financial resources to pay for their kids' college education.

 


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