A new analysis of federal data by the Institute for Higher Education Policy further illuminates the depth of the gap between what students must pay to attend college and what they can afford. That gap, known as “unmet need,” is much wider on average for nonwhite students than for white students. Students who received a Pell Grant at least once had a nearly $10,000 gap, on average; those who didn’t receive Pell Grants were able to cover their unmet need “with resources to spare.” One especially troubling finding: Students on the lowest rungs of the income ladder would need to contribute nearly 150 percent of the household income to attend a four-year college full time, IHEP’s analysis said, “even after accounting for grant and scholarship aid.”
Read the full article at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
