Facts About College Affordability
for African-American Students

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Race, Income, and College Type

• More Black undergraduates attend public 2-year colleges and private for-profit colleges than attend 4-year public and not-for-profit colleges, compared to White students.



• Black undergraduates are more likely than Whites to be economically independent of their families while attending college (64% to 47%)



• Black undergraduates are more likely to be in the lowest 25% with regard to income.



• While 26% of White undergraduates are in the bottom 25% of income distribution, 49% of Blacks are.

Availability of Federal Aid

• As a result, in 2004, a higher proportion of Blacks as compared to Whites qualified as needing federal aid (77% to 51% in 2-year public colleges and 83% to 63% in 4-year Ph.D.-granting institutions.)



• However, Black students are receiving even less federal aid compared to their documented financial need than White students



• At 2-year colleges, the gap between need and federal aid is $1,700 for White students is about $1,700 and $2,500 for Black students.

Tuition and Fees

• After accounting for inflation, tuition and fees at both 2-year and 4-year public colleges have more than doubled over the last 20 years.



• Tuition and fees at 4-year colleges are up by 129% and at 2-year colleges by 134%.



• Over the same period, room and board has increased by 30% in real terms at 4-year colleges.

Grants and Aid

• Though Black undergraduates are somewhat more likely than White students to receive some form of aid (76% to 62%), and even more likely to receive grant aid than White students (64% to 48%), the total average amount of aid for undergraduates is actually less for Black students than for White students ($7,200 vs. $7,500). This difference seems to be accounted for by the higher proportion of Black students in less-expensive 2-year colleges.

Loans

• At both 2-year and 4-year colleges, a higher percentage of Black students than White students take out loans to meet their college expenses.



• At 2-year institutions, 17% of Black students and 13% of White students take out loans; at 4-year colleges the comparison is 58% to 44%.



• At 4-year colleges the debt burden is slightly higher for Black students ($6,000 as compared to $5,600 for White students).



• At 2-year institutions Black students average $3,500 in loans as compared to $3,700 for White students.

College Affordability Fact Sheet for Black Students
copyright NEA Research, July 2008

Sources
Trends in College Pricing - 2007 College Board
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_pricing_07.pdf

2006 NACAC Secondary School Counseling Trends Survey
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Balancing_Acts.pdf

Project on Student Debt: Student Debt and the Class of 2006
http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003-2004, 1999-2000, 1995-1996, and 1992-1993 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/

Student Financing of Undergraduate Education 2003-04, NCES 2006
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006186.pdf