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Financing Higher Education

Chion Wolf
/
WNPR
Jeff Bartlett.

Some people say that bachelor’s degrees are the new high school diplomas; they are becoming more and more necessary for job seekers to be competitive in the job market. But as the cost of higher education rises, students who attend college are now saddled with decades worth of debt in loans. 

Public universities, which traditionally acted as financially accessible educators to the neediest students, are now giving less money in financial aid and merit scholarships to low-income families. Instead, they allocate those dollars to wealthier students -- and their wealthier families -- hoping to spread precious resources, and cashing in on the kinds of “investments” well-off students can make.

This hour, we explore the the reasons behind this trend with a ProPublica reporter who's been investigating it. We also look at the effect it has on those students who do not receive the aid they need.

GUESTS:

  • Jeff Bartlett - College Specialist at the College Center for Hartford Public High School
  • Marian Wang - Education Reporter for ProPublica who has reported extensively on higher education in the United States
  • Ashley Caine - Student at UConn Torrington
Tucker Ives is WNPR's morning news producer.
Catie Talarski is Senior Director of Storytelling and Radio Programming at Connecticut Public.

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