College Costs a Heavy Burden for Low-Income Families
How affordable is college in Mississippi?
Students from low-income families are hardest hit by the rising cost of college, hampering progress toward state education and workforce goals. The pandemic threatens to further slow students' ability to earn higher credentials for in-demand careers and middle-class incomes.
The latest SREB college affordability profiles tell the story of affordability in each state.
On average, it took 31% of a family's annual income to cover full-time expenses at public four-year research universities in the South in 2017-18, the most recent year for which comparable data is available.
For the lowest-income families, those earning less than $30,000 per year, the burden is heavier. The share of annual income to pay for public college ranged across Southern states from a high of 72% for four-year colleges in one state to 12% of family income for 2-year colleges in another. These same families have now been hardest hit by the health and employment effects of the coronavirus pandemic, making them less likely to begin college and less able to afford to continue.
30% of Mississippi families with college students earned less than $30,000 per year in 2017.
"These are the very students our state economies most need to earn higher credentials to meet our workforce needs and fuel the economic recovery," said SREB President Stephen L. Pruitt. "This is one reason the SREB Commission on College Affordability called on states to protect or increase financial aid for those who need it most – and support the institutions that serve them – especially in tough budget times."
Find data for your state
The factors that drive college affordability – tuition and fees, state appropriations to higher education, financial aid to students, and family income levels – vary widely from state to state. To help policymakers with state-level decisions to improve affordability, SREB provides annual affordability profiles specific to each of its 16 states.
Each report details state-specific data including:
- The percentage of family income needed to attend public colleges
- Net price (what students pay after financial aid) at different types of institutions
- The changing share of postsecondary education covered by tuition and fees versus state appropriations from 2007 to 2017
- Tuition increases over the past decade
- State spending on financial aid
- Student borrowing
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