Massachusetts public and private colleges and universities received high marks in nearly all categories in a national report on higher education released last week by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Except for tuition.
The center gave Massachusetts “A” and “A-” for student preparedness for college, the percentage of students that go to college directly after high school and the percentage that earn degrees.
Despite those high ratings, the Center gave Massachusetts a “D” in affordability. The report attacked the Bay State for its high tuition bills and for offering low levels of financial aid to low-income students attending private universities. These students account for 61 percent of enrollment.
The Board of Higher Education insists education is more affordable now, due to a 12.7 percent reduction in tuition for public schools over the past five years. The decrease is a result of the efforts of the Commonwealth and the Board.
Board members also said the state has provided $69 million in financial aid to students — an 85 percent increase since 1995 — in a statement issued after the Measuring Up 2000 report was released.
According to Board members, the report is not clear enough.
“They combined public and private colleges, which is why you see the D,” said Cynthia Buccini, a representative of the Board of Higher Education.
The report does not differentiate between public and private colleges in the issue of affordability, Board members argued. They also claim the tuition data used is not current and does not represent the improvement that the Commonwealth has made over the last five years.
“The more important story is anyone who wants to go to college in Massachusetts can afford it,” said Board Chairman Stephen Tocco in a press release. “We have a public system that is high quality, affordable and accessible for everyone.”
While the Board argues that public college and university tuition is noticeably decreasing, they also cite that prices at private universities in Massachusetts are skyrocketing and outpacing inflation, while remaining below the national average increase of 5 percent.
In the past year Boston University tuition has increased by approximately 3.9 percent, and Harvard University costs have increased by 3.3 percent. Tuition at all campuses of the University of Massachusetts, however, has dropped 4.4 percent in the past five years.
Massachusetts is not the only New England state that received a poor affordability grade; every New England state was graded with a “C” or lower on affordability. New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island each received an “F,” despite succeeding in all other areas.
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