As an old adage goes, you can’t put a price on a good education.
Except you can, more than a dozen Ansonia High School students told U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal Tuesday (May 27).
And what’s more — many of them said they were priced out of their first choices for college because they couldn’t afford them.
Blumenthal’s stop at the high school Tuesday is one of several he’s making at schools throughout Connecticut to hear from students about what he calls the “college affordability crisis.”
In remarks to students and officials, Blumenthal pointed out the $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt nationwide, and noted Connecticut’s college graduates finish school with $27,000 of student loan debt, on average.
Student loan debt nationwide is now greater than all other forms of debt except home mortgages, he said.
The reason is simple, he said — the “colossally exploding cost of tuition and higher education.”
“There was a time when people worked their way through school,” the senator said. “They could do it because tuition costs were so much lower. They can’t do it anymore.”
Meanwhile, the federal government makes $66 billion a year on students who take out federal loans to help pay for college, a fact the senator said makes his “blood boil.”
“You are going to be a profit center for the federal government if you borrow money,” he said.
The senator mentioned a few measures he’s hoping Congress will pass to help out those attending college, like a push to lower interest rates for student borrowers.
But he said he came to the school Tuesday to hear from students about their experiences.
He got an earful.
Senior Matthew Pitney told Blumenthal he wanted to attend the University of New Haven after graduation.
But after learning how much he’d have to pay in tuition and other costs — more than $40,000 annually — he decided to go to Naugatuck Valley Community College instead.
“It was just too much,” Pitney said of UNH.
Other students echoed Pitney’s sentiments.
Jack Williams told the senator his college choice changed several times as he navigated the labyrinthine world of college applications and financial aid forms.
Williams said he was accepted into five schools, and the final choice came down to his dream school, Fordham University, and the University of Connecticut.
He said he wanted to go to Fordham, but “I realized that after four years I’d be close to $200,000 in debt.”
“It came down to I had to choose UConn,” Williams said. “It was impossible for me to attend another school.”
Brothers Thomas and Chris Majchrzak are first-generation Americans graduating this year.
Thomas had his sights set on Fairfield University, Chris the University of Delaware.
But they both plan to be at the University of Connecticut in the fall.
Guess why.
“I’m proud to go there, but that certainly wasn’t my first option,” Chris Majchrzak said. “It just was not affordable.”
The school’s valedictorian, Louis Nicoletti, told Blumenthal he’ll be going to Harvard University in the fall.
But not because he received a bunch of grants.
“Luckily I was awarded a very generous academic scholarship to help me pay for it,” Nicoletti said. “If I wasn’t lucky enough to get a scholarship, I probably wouldn’t be able to attend.”
After listening to students, the senator stated the obvious.
“You guys are going to great schools … but some of you may have gone elsewhere if cost wasn’t a consideration,” he said.
So he asked them what the government can do to help make college more affordable.
Williams said students should be able to fill out the Free Application For Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, earlier in order to give them more time to see what sort of financial aid package they could receive from different schools.
He also suggested expanding Pell Grants beyond their limit of about $6,000 per year.
Six grand doesn’t do a lot when the cost of attending a school like Fordham is $60,000 to $70,000 per year, he pointed out.
Thomas Majchrzak said work study programs offered as part of financial aid packages should be expanded, too.
Lorie Vaccaro, an alderman in the city’s Second Ward, sat in on Tuesday’s discussion. Vaccaro said it was an eye-opener.
“You’re all told ‘Study, study, study, work hard in school,’” Vaccaro said. “Then they achieve their goals, but some students can’t go to their first selection.”
Blumenthal agreed, thanking the students for their ideas and said he’d speak for them in Washington.
“We make so many promises to young people,” he said. “Yet almost every one of you, in one way or another, is having to compromise.”
