Posted on Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 11:42 a.m.
Fewer middle-income families can afford U-M tuition
By AnnArbor.com Staff
The percentage of middle-income students attending the University of Michigan and other elite universities is shrinking, and officials are concerned that the rising costs are putting top-tier schools out of reach, the Detroit Free Press reported today.
The percentage of U-M freshmen with family incomes of $40,000-$100,000 fell 13 percent from 2005 to 2009, a national survey tracking incoming freshmen found, according to the article.
The story notes a national trend that middle-income families make too much to qualify for significant financial aid for their children, but not enough to pay increasing college costs at some public schools without more help.
Comments
Michael Christie
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
Then take out a loan like everyone else does to get through school and stop whining about it. I couldn't afford U of M either, but I didn't whine about it. I got a job on midnights, school during the day = no social life, but today I own a business and am better for WORKING on my LIFE.
arborani
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 : 8:16 p.m.
". . . officials are concerned . . ." which/whose officials are we talking about? Do we think UM is "concerned"?.
a2cents
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 : 2:33 p.m.
You cannot have an elite world-class university if the riffraff are admitted. That's a given.
RuralMom
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 : 1:44 p.m.
I guess I can thank god that our Daughter got a full scholarship for her first 4 yrs, now is being courted by U of M, Harvard, Penn State and the likes for a another full ride due to her 4.0+ GPA. Which in my not so humble opinion means if you really want it bad enough you will work for it! Since she managed to do this while battling Lymphoma, I can only wonder how much more awesome it would be for her without that anchor, not to mention what others could do if they applied themselves to their passions. You reap what you sow!
scott
Mon, Nov 7, 2011 : 1:08 a.m.
Denise ilitch is a bum and should be tossed out of her job.....Go blue!
trespass
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 11:22 p.m.
What is driving the inflation of tuition at 3 times the rate of inflation? State support has been relatively flat for more than a decade. Granted that it hasn't kept up with inflation but the General Fund budget at UM has increased at twice the rate of inflation. That is the main culprit in tuition increases. The raises for general staff and faculty have been near the rate of inflation at less than 3%. So what is driving this increase in the General Fund budget. It is higher administrative costs and salaries and it is contruction and renovation costs. Mary Sue Coleman got $100,000/yr + an amount equal to her taxes on that amount in deferred compensation, in her last contract extension. That doesn't show up in her supposed 3% salary increase. Other administrative salaries have increased in similar ways as have the number of administrative positions. Construction and renovation costs have averaged $500 million/yr for the last decade. We need to elect regents who will be budget hawks and not let the administration of President Coleman run over them.
EyeHeartA2
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 9:57 p.m.
The University of Michigan and the Michigan Agricultural College have essentially the same tuition. Why no outrage there? Good hard hitting reporting as usual. Thanks for the paragraph and link.
godsbreath64
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 9:19 p.m.
This is the aim of the cult The Federalist Society and their godfather, James Madison. "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives"
Sparty
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 6:42 p.m.
I'm sure the Lansing Republican reductions in aid to higher education had nothing to do with this. LoL.
Alan Goldsmith
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 6:31 p.m.
Thanks to the Detroit Free Press for their investigative reporting on Ann Arbor stories such a this.
JustMyOpinion
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 6:04 p.m.
We are becoming the nation(s) our forefathers left in disgust and desperation, looking for a fair chance and opportunity.
joe.blow
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 5:56 p.m.
Guess what, my family didn't give me a dime to go to college. I worked two jobs and took out loans. I also didn't go to an elite college because I couldn't afford it. So, I don't feel bad. Pay for it yourself and go to where you can afford, this is America, we don't believe in handouts ... Also, you vote in unions yet complain of the cost, shame on you.
FredMax
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 5:40 p.m.
Presenting a unified affordability statistic for such an extreme earnings range ($40K-100K) tells me little.
cibachrome
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 5:36 p.m.
When the elite anti-establishment decided that the domestic manufacturing /auto industries were not to their liking and stopped supporting them, (for many reasons) then the death of the middle class, especially in the midwest, was certain to follow. Meanwhle, the self righteous employees kept hoisting their own petards and now their 'value' is beyond the lowered middle class reach. Quite simple to predict. You don't even need a degree. Same for the hospitals. Generously funded by the manufacturing industry's employees, their employees preferred foreign made products and bit off the hand that fed them. It ought to be easy to rebalance this if the State would stop shoring up the budgets of these 'businesses'. Supply and demand would work if they could keep the 1%ers out in an equitable way, such as tuition proportional to income, restricting out of Staters, etc.
Mike K
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 5:31 p.m.
Yet another consequence of inflationism pummeling the middle class.