Source Analysis 1
Part I: Citations
Delaney, J. A. (2014). The role of state policy in promoting college affordability. The ANNALS
of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 655(1), 56-78. doi:
10.1177/0002716214535898
Palacios, V., Johnson, I., & Leachman, M. (2013). Recent deep state higher education cuts may
harm students and the economy for years to come. Washington, DC: Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities.
Part II: Summary of Argument
In this article, Jennifer Delaney writes about how trends in state policies are the determining
factors to college affordability. This is because states have reserved power over education. In a
table, she compares the average cost of tuition, the average cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room
and board), the average household income, the average cost of tuition as a percentage of
household income, and the average cost of attendance as a percentage of household income for
years from 1984 to 2011. So far the ability to afford college is far out of reach for many college
students because the percentage of the amount of family income needed to pay for college tuition
at private college and universities is increasing while the growth of average family income is
slow and maybe even stagnant.
In a chart, Delaney shows the average trends of state support since the year 2000 to 2012. In
2008, states spent $83.2 billion while in 2012 they only spent $65.9 billion dollars, a $13.7
billion dollar drop. This drop has had negative consequences for many students in their ability to
afford college. Now there is a declining trend in state spending per student due to the increase of
college enrollment and the instability of state support. In fact, the reason state support is able to
be so volatile and there can be so many state cuts is because higher education has the ability to
raise non-state revenues by increasing tuition. Most other state budgets do not have this ability
and therefore their cuts in spending are far less when the economy is in bad times.
According to College Board, from the year of 1982 to 2012, tuition and fees at public four year
college and universities increased by 357 percent. Although all states have had increases in
tuition in this time frame, the price for in-state tuition greatly varies state by state. As of lately,
students aren’t only paying for high costs of tuition, but also are paying for a large part of the
cost of education.
Affordability of tuition has also affected enrollment in universities especially amongst the
enrollment of low-income and minority students. In fact, the cost of tuition is one determining
factor of whether a person will likely attend college or not.
Another way in which the state funds for higher education is student financial aid. On the
opposite end of increasing tuition partly due to state budget cuts is that over the years states have
increased their amount of awards in student aid. This type of support too, however, varies by
state in which some states have completely awarded aid to only need-base students or to some
who are non-need base.
One source that Delaney uses in her article is from Donald E. Heller called “The effects of
tuition and state financial aid on public college enrollment”. This seems like it would be useful
because it talks about how college enrollment is effected by the cost of tuition and how aid is
able to help support students in paying for college. Another source that I found to be useful is
called “College Affordability: Implications for College Opportunity” by Laura W. Perna because
it describes how the nation contributes to the ability to pay for tuition. It also talks about trends
in college pricing and how policymakers should consider new ways to make the attendance of
college more affordable.
Part III: Important Quotes:
“Because education is a reserved power of the states, states play the primary role in shaping
public policy for higher education and, as such, play a vital role in shaping higher education
affordability” (Delaney, 2013, p.57).
This quote is an important quote because it gives reason as to why college tuition is able to
increase and who has the say so over public policy. It tells you specifically that the state and its
contribution to support students is very responsible for how well students, including myself, will
be able to pay for the college cost of attendance.
“Affordability in this article is broadly conceptualized as the share of income required to pay the
net price of college” (Delaney, 2013, p.57).
This quote stands out to me because the entire article keeps bringing up the idea of affordability.
Without having this statement explained the way it was in the beginning of the article, anyone in
the author’s audience can assume affordability to mean just about anything. I like the way she
clearly states what she means by affordability because it adds meaning to her entire article and
study.
Part IV: Explain how the source helps you to answer your research question.
My research question simply asks why college tuition is expensive and constantly rising in the
state of Virginia. This source helps me to answer my research question because it gives me one
main reason why tuition is rising. It not only focuses on why tuition is rising in Virginia but also
why it is rising all over the country. It explains the three main ways states invest in colleges and
universities: through appropriations to institutions, capital expenditures for institutions, and
student financial aid. This means that if there are any cuts in these state investments, there will
be less money offered from the states to the school institutions and more money students will
have to pay out of their own pockets.
Part V: Type of Source
They are both primary sources.