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How does Utah's higher education measure up? When it comes to affordability, Utah gets an F. That's just one of the performance categories graded in a national report card released today.
Utah educators are critical of that F grade because there was only one state in the entire country that didn't get an F -- California. The report is done every two years, and two years ago Utah was one of the only states to get an A.
So why an F this year? Utah educators think it was a blanket approach to match national trends, in which the cost of education has gone up faster than income and health care.
But educators here do recognize that the state's community colleges are pricier than those in other western states.
Bill Sederburg, the Commissioner of Higher Education, said, "The community colleges really stand out as being a lot more expensive than their peers."
Take for instance Salt Lake Community College: Tuition is just more than $2,500, 56 percent above the average cost of community colleges in other western states, including California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. The College of Eastern Utah is 33 percent above and Snow College 39 percent above the average.
Sederburg says that's mainly because, "We don't have locally-financed tuition through property tax."
Students we talked to are split on whether tuition is too expensive.
Scott Thornton said, "Compared to the other alternatives, I think it's a pretty good deal."
Eric Hunter said, "Utah colleges are very affordable. I lived back East for a few years, and it's very expensive out there."
Mike Earl said, "I disagree. I think they are unaffordable, at least from a student loan standpoint."
State universities are more affordable, though, costing 75 percent of what other western state universities do.
Sederburg says Utah also needs to put more funding into need-based programs and financial aid. Right now the state spends only 8 cents for every dollar in Pell Grant aid to students.
Student Mike Earl said, "I'm still affording it, it's just barely covering it all."
When it comes to how prepared students are to go to college, Utah gets a B. The report says eighth-graders perform well in science, but their scores in math, reading and writing are poor.
In participation, Utah gets a B-. "The biggest concern we have in higher education is it seems in Utah that the public at large is losing some of their zeal for educational attainment," Sederburg said.
Earl said, "I've been out of school for 15 years and I'm just starting as a freshman again, so maybe that's part of it. I think a lot of people don't go directly to out of high school into college anymore. They need to start working to be able to pay for this."
The report found the likelihood high school students will apply for college is low and has dropped 14 percent since the early 1990s. Only 16 percent of Hispanic young adults are enrolled in college, compared to 45 percent of whites -- one of the largest gaps in the nation.
Bill Sederburg also joined us to discuss this issue in tonight's Talking Point segment. To view our discussion with him, click the extra video in the player above.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
