Montana State University doesn’t owe a student any refunds from tuition or fees when it shut down in-person education in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Montana Supreme Court said in an order this week.

MSU did have an “express contract,” one stated in words, with Anthony Cordero, who the Bozeman university alleging it should have paid him back when it transitioned to distance learning.

But the institution never promised a complete in-person education, and it didn’t promise to never shut down the campus if it had a good reason to do so, the justices said.

Cordero had, “at most, a presumption” of in-person education, but MSU retained its right to respond to emergencies, the Supreme Court said.

Additionally, MSU is governed by the Board of Regents, which has full authority in the Montana Constitution to supervise all campuses.

“We cannot fathom upholding a prorated refund of tuition and fees for MSU being forced to close due to inclement weather that prohibits classes, which frequently occurs due to Montana winters,” the order said. “Here, Cordero was never deprived of classes, which were still conducted, albeit online.”

The had found there was no express contract between Cordero and MSU — contrary to the findings of the Supreme Court — and also no “implied contract.”

However, in a unanimous decision by a five-judge panel, the Supreme Court said the overall conclusion the lower court reached in favor of MSU was still correct because MSU didn’t breach “contractual duties with respect to tuition.”

Adrian Miller, a lawyer at Sullivan Miller who represents Cordero, said MSU should have done better for students.

“It is disappointing that the Supreme Court does not believe MSU had an obligation to provide even a prorated refund for services and facilities that were unavailable during its COVID campus closure,” Miller said in an email. “We respect the Supreme Court’s decision, but students deserve better from the university.”

MSU spokesperson Tracy Ellig, however, said the order affirms the university’s actions during the emergency.

“The court’s ruling speaks clearly,” Ellig said in an email. “This ruling vindicates the university against these unfounded claims and reinforces that the university did everything in its power to provide education to students fairly and effectively during the pandemic.”

After Covid-19 hit the country in 2020 and many campuses closed, lawsuits popped up from students alleging various campuses owed them refunds. But courts came to .

“Because this is a matter of first impression in Montana, we note other jurisdictions have considered nearly identical agreements between students and universities,” the Montana justices said. “Across the country, the precedent varies with some jurisdictions finding there to be enough evidence to maintain a claim for a contract, and others finding insufficient evidence to maintain a claim for a contract between student and university.”

Cordero never disputed MSU had the right to halt in-person instruction. However, he alleged he shouldn’t have had to pay MSU the same amount, some $19,901 that semester, according to the order, including many fees, for online classes.

As part of his argument, Cordero pointed to numerous marketing materials from MSU that show students making friends in residence halls, working together in labs and the library, and engaging in other community activities.

He alleged those materials reflected a commitment from MSU that included in-person education, but the Supreme Court disagreed.

The materials he provided don’t create a contract, the justices said. Rather, the language “informs students they have access to opportunities on campus,” which aren’t a promise in a contract, the order said.

“Although he did not get the experience he expected to get during the final half of the Spring 2020 semester, Cordero still progressed in his academic program and was able to graduate,” the order said.

The Supreme Court said Cordero doesn’t get any of his fees back either. It said even though the fitness center was temporarily closed, it was maintained, and even though the library was closed, its online services were available, for example.

“Mandatory fees are charged to everybody as a condition of enrollment, and they do not promise anything in return, ,” the order said.

It said MSU may have encouraged students to go home, but it also made accommodations for students who decided to stay on campus, “including keeping its campus operational so that students could progress and complete their academic programs.”

In its order, the Supreme Court also disagreed that MSU was “unjustly enriched” by keeping tuition and fees from students without giving them their expected benefit. It said Montana law doesn’t allow recovery under “unjust enrichment” if the parties have a written contract.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on and .

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Kennedy Cole, a college junior studying accounting, knew she wanted to attend school outside her native Nevada to expand her choices, meet new people and explore different places.

Emma Nichols, a sophomore majoring in vocal performance, chose a school close to her home in Corvallis, Oregon.

The two friends, Oregon State University tour ambassadors who guide prospective students and families around campus, both think they made the right decision.

Cole said it was scary and tough to be at a school where many first-year students already knew one another or had gone to local high schools, but she found most students were friendly. Nichols said one of the exciting aspects of Oregon State’s campus is the ability to meet “out-of-state students and international ones from a different culture.”

But while they both have scholarships, there’s a big difference in their base tuition.

The an estimated $13,800 in tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates in the 2023-24 academic year and about $36,600 for nonresidents.

At a time when school budgets are tightening and college enrollment is decreasing, state universities are increasingly turning to nonresident students to boost their revenues.

In 47 states, public research universities increased the proportion of out-of-state undergraduate students they admitted between 2002 and 2022, according to an analysis of federal education data done for Stateline by University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor Nicholas Hillman.

In those two decades, the percentage of out-of-state undergraduate students at those universities rose steadily from a nationwide average of 18% to 28%, Hillman found. Public research schools are generally large state universities that receive significant grants for research.

“Universities that have broad access missions have the least revenue stream,” Hillman said in an interview. Any shift in public funding “affects them more. Slots are being given away to people paying higher tuition. Politically, this is such a hot potato. Legislators are getting interested in this.”

While the funding boosts universities, critics worry that in-state students are being shut out. To minimize that, some states limit the number of out-of-state students.

Aaron Klein, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, a centrist think tank, wrote a  on out-of-state enrollment in 2022.

In an interview with Stateline, Klein said: “The ability to go to a high-quality school near where you grew up is being taken away for many kids through a complex process in which public universities are swapping in-state students for out-of-state. In the end, society is no better educated, and student debt rises substantially.”

In Oregon, the average percentage of undergraduate students from out of state rose from 23% to 47% at the state’s public research universities, according to Hillman’s analysis.

At Oregon State University, 63% of undergraduate students are nonresidents, according to Jon Boeckenstedt, vice provost of enrollment management, who has written extensively on the subject. The percentage drops to about half when including graduate students, he said. But Boeckenstedt also said virtually no Oregonian applicant who is qualified is denied a place at his campus. The university’s acceptance rate for first-year applicants in 2022-23 was nearly 83%, according to data provided by the school to the U.S. Department of Education.

“Up until about 2019 or 2020, we had sort of an informal, trustee-mandated ratio of two-thirds resident, one-third nonresident balance,” he said in an interview in his office on the lush Oregon State campus.

“But if you manage to that ratio, and resident enrollment falls by 100 [students], you need to purposely exclude out-of-state residents who want to come here and bring their out-of-state tuition dollars,” Boeckenstedt said. “And so I said, ‘Let’s think about this differently.’”

Shift toward out-of-state students

The trend toward admitting more out-of-state students started as far back as the 1980s, when state legislatures and governors began reducing funding for higher education, said Ozan Jaquette, an associate professor of higher education at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies who has studied nonresident enrollment at public universities. He added that the trend has accelerated over the past decade.

“Once states said, ‘Hey, you can make your own money,’ the public universities that could, said, ‘We are going to dramatically increase nonresident enrollment because they pay higher tuition,’” he said.

Up until the end of the last decade, the move toward out-of-state recruitment mostly applied to flagship state universities, Jaquette said, as they had the widespread name recognition to attract students from other places. But now, he said, it has trickled down to the next tier of public colleges, as budgets get tighter and more nonresidents apply.

Some universities that recruit out-of-state students tend to focus on private high school students, since their families often can afford to pay higher tuition, he said. But some recruiting lately has expanded to public high schools, usually in affluent suburbs, or areas where there are few public state universities and pockets of affluent students all competing for the in-state slots. It’s easier, sometimes, to get in at a university in another state.

“The only viable route [to increase the budgets] is nonresident enrollment,” he said of schools with declining state funding. “If you are not Stanford or Princeton, there are limits to how much donation and endowment you have and there are limits to research funding.”

Some schools also recruit internationally.

Arizona State University the fact that it is the top public university choice for international students, according to an Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report. international students studied at the school in the 2022-23 school year, according to Open Doors data. The research institution tracks U.S. students studying abroad and international students coming to the United States.

About two hours south at the University of Arizona in Tucson, current undergraduate enrollment is 50% students from the state, 45.2% from out-of-state and 4.5% international, for about a nearly even split between residents and nonresidents, Kasandra Urquidez, the school’s chief enrollment officer, wrote in an email.

While University of Arizona enrollment for undergraduate state residents dropped 4.6% over the last decade, from 19,206 to 18,323, nonresident undergraduates have risen 41%, from 10,244 to 14,478, according to figures provided by Urquidez. Arizona resident tuition for undergraduates is $13,200 and nonresident tuition is $39,600, she said.

“As a state university, non-resident enrollment … provides university revenue and decreased state funding causes the university to seek alternative forms of revenue,” she wrote in the email.

She added that Arizona does not limit spots for residents: “We are very dedicated to the citizens of our state and would never turn away a qualifying resident for a non-resident.”

Chanah Tanioka is a senior of Japanese descent from Hawaii studying pre-med at Oregon State University. She’s the first of her family to go to college and said she looked at public universities all over the country, but chose Oregon State because it felt more welcoming to someone of her heritage than some schools in the Midwest or Southeast.

She also had a close family friend who attended the school and now lives in nearby Salem. Tanioka has scholarships that make it possible for her to afford the steeper tuition and recommends that students from other places who want to attend a big public university check out its culture before going.

Tanioka belongs to the Hawai’i Club on campus, which helps make her feel at home. She said one jarring thing about going to school on the mainland is the lack of understanding of her native Hawaiian Pidgin , in which “Are you pau with your food?” means “Are you finished?”

Some states seek limits

While many public universities have embraced nonresident enrollment in recent years, some states have quotas or laws that are aimed at putting in-state residents first.

In North Carolina, — including the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University — have an 18% cap. Seven have a 25% cap, two have a 35% cap, and one, Elizabeth City State University, has a 50% cap. Historically Black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, and schools that had declining in-state enrollment were granted the higher caps.

In Texas, state law mandates that high school students graduating in the top 10% of their class (except the top 6% for the University of Texas at Austin applicants) are automatically admitted to any public Texas university.

That can effectively limit the number of non-Texas students at those schools. Out-of-state enrollment in Texas public universities grew only 1 percentage point over the past decade, from 6% to 7%, according to Hillman’s research.

The University of California Board of Regents, under pressure from state lawmakers alarmed at the high percentage of nonresident students attending California universities, in 2017 adopted a new policy enrollment. The board settled on 18% at five campuses; on four other campuses that already had exceeded that percentage, enrollment would be capped at their 2017-2018 levels.

The legislature then worked to appropriate more money to make up for the revenue hit the California campuses would take by admitting fewer higher-paying nonresident students.

The deal directed $31 million in state funding to the universities in 2022-23, and grew to $61 million in 2023-24, and is expected to increase to $92 million in 2024-25, according to Justin Tran, spokesperson for California state Sen. John Laird, a Democrat and chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education, who was instrumental in the actions. That is aimed at reducing nonresident enrollment to 18% of the undergraduate student body, replacing about 900 nonresidents with Californians annually, Tran wrote in an email.

Oregon lawmakers also are concerned about the number of nonresident students attending state universities. State Rep. John Lively, a Democrat and chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, wrote in an email that the lower ratio of Oregon students to nonresidents is something that deserves a “hard look” to see what role cost plays in that calculation.

He also suggested that people from elsewhere who go to school in Oregon may enhance the state’s economy by staying after graduation to work.

“It’s also a goal of mine to attract new students and decrease the barrier that cost of higher education creates on individuals and families hoping to make a future here in Oregon,” he wrote.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on and .

Hundreds of higher education leaders across the country gathered virtually on Feb. 28-29 for hosted by several North Carolina agencies — the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS), the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s , and the national

The conference included more than 30 sessions focused on the benefits of dual enrollment, the need for equity, and strategies to improve and expand programs.

“This is the second conference focused on the role of dual enrollment in unlocking student potential and expanding access to postsecondary education in our state and across the country,” said NCCCS President Dr. Jeff Cox. “We are a leader in the country in dual enrollment, but there’s a lot of interest to expand even further.”

In North Carolina, dual enrollment opportunities for high school students have existed for more than 30 years. The state’s dual enrollment program, , was created in 2011 to structured opportunities for high school students to earn college credits tuition-free that “lead to a certificate, diploma, or degree as well as provide entry-level jobs skills.”

In recent years, the NCCCS has focused on expanding and strengthening CCP, which includes three pathways: college transfer, career and technical education (CTE), and Cooperative Innovative High Schools (CIHS). The system’s includes high school enrollment as a focus of increasing access and enrollment across the state.

At the same time, participation in dual enrollment programs has increased. Last school year, the NCCCS served over 78,000 students in its dual enrollment programs during 2022-23, Cox said. CCP participation among N.C. high schoolers from 6% in 2014-15 to 12% in 2020-21.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said dual enrollment is an important part of student success. She said the community college system is crucial to her work of “improving the state’s public schools, expanding innovation, and ensuring that all students are prepared to be enrolled, enlisted, or employed when they graduate.”

Keynote speaker Dr. Karen Stout, president and chief executive officer of , urged conference attendees to “rethink access” to dual enrollment.

“Dual enrollment is the fastest-growing segment of community college enrollment,” she said. “We must stretch the boundaries of our thinking about the design of our dual enrollment programs and about the range of partnerships we might develop with K-12 partners to help more students thrive — who without these programs, would never have found their way to college in the first place.”

Stout raised a few themes for participants to think about over the two-day conference.

• The importance of CTE pathways to increase equitable access to dual enrollment.
• Aligning dual enrollment programs with other college offerings in a more strategic manner.
• Articulating a shared vision among partners and then creating a work plan to achieve desired outcomes.
• Focusing on equitable expansion. Specifically, Stout recommended creating culturally-focused and community-specific outreach, engaging prospective students earlier, and bringing advising/classes to students.

“Equity must be at the center of the work to strengthen dual enrollment,” she said. “There is much for us to do, and this is important work at a critical moment. Dual enrollment… must become a centerpiece to our equitable student success agenda.”

Here’s a look at some of the main takeaways from the conference. The graphic below also includes an overview of the three CCP pathways in North Carolina.

Impacts of dual enrollment

Overall, data shows positive impacts of dual enrollment, said Dr. Julie Edmunds, the director of the Early College Research Center at UNC-Greensboro’s SERVE.

that CCP programs allow participants to earn postsecondary credentials at higher rates than their peers — with larger benefits for economically disadvantaged students. Edmunds said economically disadvantaged students benefit most in attaining bachelor’s degrees.

Edmunds presented data on college-level credits earned by the end of 12th grade among CCP participants and their peers. You can see that data in the chart below.

“If you don’t see impacts on these college credits, then your program isn’t really doing anything at all,” Edmunds said. “But as you can see from this chart, CCP students earn many more college credits than students in the comparison groups.”

She noted that CIHS involvement has the largest impact on postsecondary attainment among the pathways.

Other benefits of CCP include higher graduation rates and a higher likelihood to earn a credential. That includes any postsecondary credential, certificate, associate degree, and bachelor’s degree.

Among all pathways and credentials, the only negative impact was among CTE participants. Students who participated in CTE were slightly less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than their peers, Edmunds said.

“This seems to suggest that some students may have been steered away from earning a bachelor’s degree. Is this good, or is this bad?” Edmunds said. “It could be good if students might have learned that their desired career did not require a bachelor’s degree, and therefore they didn’t need to go to a four-year institution. However, we also know that students with bachelor’s degrees earn more over the long haul than students without bachelor’s degrees.”

Rural students also tend to benefit more from CCP participation, Edmunds said.

“(This is) mostly because they don’t have as many alternative options to them for high-level course taking,” she said.

Dr. Holley Nichols presented on benefits for rural students taking dual enrollment math courses.

North Carolina saw a 45% increase in math dual enrollment courses taken between 2017 and 2022, according to the Belk Center’s research.

“We really saw this incredible uptick that was much sharper than overall engagement in dual enrollment, in math,” said Nichols, the Belk Center’s associate director of research and evaluation.

The center analyzed participation in math dual enrollment courses across the state, focusing on highly transferrable courses like statistical methods, pre-calculus/algebra, and calculus.

They found that math dual enrollment participation was roughly 25% across the board in Tier 1 counties, as . Each year, the department ranks counties on their economic well-being, with 1 being the most economically distressed and 3 being the least economically distressed.

In rural counties specifically, the rate of participation in math dual enrollment was often higher. This could be due to generally higher rates of math teacher vacancies in rural areas, Nichols said.

In some counties, the rate of math dual enrollment participation was up to 50%, Nichols said.

“In rural areas, the importance of these math dual enrollment classes cannot be underestimated,” Nichols said. “For a lot of these high schools, that is the chance to take upper-level math.”

Despite all the benefits CCP offers, access to dual enrollment is not equitably distributed, conference speakers said. Here is a look at what research says about increasing the equity of dual enrollment.

Equitable expansion

While dual enrollment is particularly beneficial for economically-disadvantaged students, gaps exist in participation and attainment. Those gaps vary across dual enrollment pathways, speakers said, but generally impact Black, Hispanic, and male student populations.

In the college transfer pathway, Edmunds said an additional gap exists among economically disadvantaged students.

Many gaps exist because colleges are not intentional about outreach, she said.

“When you just sort of make an opportunity available to people, who are the people who are going to take advantage of that?” Edmunds said. “Well, they’re going to be the people that are already super motivated… or their parents are super motivated. People who come with all of those inherent supports and advantages, those are going to be the people who are going to take advantage of it first.”

Conference speakers, including Edmunds, emphasized several strategies to advance equity in dual enrollment: the importance of strong K-12 partnerships, academic and non-academic supports, and early career/academic exploration.

Edmunds also shared several recommendations on expanding access to dual enrollment, included below.

Sarah Griffin, a research associate with Columbia University’s , shared the center’s equity framework, dual enrollment equity pathways (DEEP).

DEEP is “a research-based framework for rethinking dual enrollment as a more equitable on-ramp to college programs of study that lead to family-supporting, career-path jobs for students who might not otherwise pursue education after college,” per

“In general, the expansion of dual enrollment has been really positive for students and communities,” Griffin said.

However, in addition to gaps in access, some dual enrollment programs also lack structured guidance for students. Griffin said the DEEP framework seeks to mitigate both challenges.

“So the DEEP research was motivated by our interest in understanding who was getting access to dual enrollment,” she said. “But also what were students getting access to, in terms of their dual enrollment programs and how they were being implemented.”

Here’s a look at the main components of the DEEP framework:

Leaders from Ohio’s and also presented on their efforts to address food insecurity among dual enrollment students.

“Why should we address food insecurity among dual enrollment students?” asked Columbus State K-12 Partnerships Director Kimberly Connell. “Because when students don’t have access to adequate food, it impacts their concentration, their memory, their mood, and their motor skills. Those are things that are all important for students to be successful.”

In fall 2021, the college started a lunch card distribution program to address food insecurity. Students who take in-person courses are eligible to receive lunch cards based on the number of days they are on campus for class.

Presenters said the program has addressed an important need. During the first year of the program, the college distributed 309 lunch cards to 10 students, per the presentation. By fall 2023, that amount increased to 1,088 lunch cards to 48 students.

“Students cannot achieve self actualization if their basic needs are not met,” Connell said.

Speakers lifted up a number of other strategies for increasing equity in dual enrollment, listed below.

• Build resources for under-resourced schools with the most limited capacity.
• Invest time and resources.
• Strengthen and streamline dual enrollment processes.
• Promote student success once students have enrolled in courses.
• Attend community and school events to explain the opportunities of dual enrollment, and market that message well.
• Prioritize authentic connections between staff and students, which requires capacity and strong team vision.

Dr. Jason Taylor, an associate professor at the University of Utah’s Department of Educational Leadership, stressed the importance of program vision and planning.

“We really need to be looking at the relationship between design and outcomes,” Taylor said. “How we design our programs and the purpose of our programs matters quite a bit in terms of what we might need to consider for equitable outcomes.”

Lessons from early colleges

Throughout the conference, several panels and speakers highlighted the strengths of the early college model.

“The early college is a really great setting to explore these other ideas about how to support students in dual enrollment courses more effectively,” said Dr. Julie Edmunds, with the Early College Research Center.

In North Carolina, early colleges fall under the pathway, which also includes middle colleges and STEM and career academies. CIHS students account for 31% of those enrolled across the three CCP programs in the state.

In order to address equity gaps in dual enrollment,  states that schools must target one of the following three student populations:

1. First-generation college students.
2. High school students who are at risk of dropping out.
3. High school students who would benefit from accelerated instruction.

Nationally, there are about 1,100 early colleges, according to research presented by . That research identifies North Carolina as a national leader of early college programs, . Here’s a map of those programs across the state.

RTI Senior Research Education Analyst Dr. Elizabeth Glennie said early colleges can help mitigate barriers to college. Glennie discussed financial, academic, cultural, and logistical barriers.

Early colleges help prepare students for the rigor and culture of college. They also provide support in applying for college, which is particularly important for first-generation students. Perhaps most importantly, Glennie said, early colleges provide students with college courses for no cost.

Dr. Frank McKay, an education consultant with RTI, spoke about the characteristics of early colleges.

In North Carolina, early colleges have a cap of 100 students per grade. N.C. early colleges serve students in grades 9-13, which allows students to remain in school for a fifth year to earn their associate degree.

“If you’ve seen one early college, you’ve seen one early college, because they’re such unique implementations,” McKay said. “The kind of sweet spot and secret of success is the combination of the rigorous (college) program and curriculum, tied with really strong student supports.”

Principal Matt Bristow-Smith spoke about how to help dual enrollment students succeed.

“One of the way you grow programs is by creating something successful that people want to be a part of, and that they can see themselves in,” Bristow-Smith said. “Giving folks hope and inspiration is really important, and someone needs to be the ‘moral cheerleader’ of your school… And the second piece is you need to have a plan for folks.”

Lisa Cummings, principal of , said “intentional supports” are crucial for student success.

Wake Early College of Health and Sciences opened in 2006 as the first early college in Wake County and focuses on careers in health sciences. Seventy percent of the school’s students are first-generation students or from underrepresented backgrounds.

Last year, 80% of their graduates were accepted and planned to attend four-year universities, Cummings said.

Here are other student success strategies Cummings shared:

• Strategic advising, front-loaded when students first arrive.
• Purposeful scheduling.
• Targeted courses.
• Interventions inside and outside the classroom.

Future research, work

Keynote speaker Dr. Karen Stout left conference attendees with several questions on which to reflect:

• Does dual enrollment help the many, many students who aspire to transfer into a bachelor’s program, but never do?
• Do our programs lead not only to good, in-demand jobs, but also put students on a pathway to a meaningful career over the long-term?
• Do our programs have positive social, economic, and cultural impacts on our communities?

Speakers also lifted up the need for strong data collection and reevaluation of programs.

The Early College Research Center is researching the impact of dual enrollment on employment and earnings, Edmunds said, and how the pandemic impacted students’ postsecondary choices and performance.

On Thursday afternoon, attendees also heard about the role of policy and legislation in dual enrollment expansion.

Those panelists emphasized the need for strong data, design, and partnerships. They also cautioned against broadly expanding all programs and advocated instead for focusing on impactful programs and practices.

Finally, the panel encouraged conference attendees to remain engaged in the policy conversations in their prospective states.

“We’re at a critical point,” said panel facilitator Dr. Joel Vargas, vice president of . “So we really need all of you champions out there.”

Everyone has a leadership role to play, Achieving the Dream’s Nick Mathern said during the conference’s closing remarks. It will take all stakeholders to reach educational attainment goals and close equity gaps, he said.

“Talk to the students and families in your community about what the value proposition for higher education looks like to them,” said Mathern, Achieving the Dream’s executive director of K–12 partnerships. “I’ve been inspired by the excellent work shared by so many of you around the country. And I’m eager to see what the collective impact of our continued work will be.”

Starting the week of March 4, you can view session recordings on after creating an account. After 30 days, those recordings will be moved to YouTube, under the handle @DE24DualEnrollmentConference.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lori Wathen always hoped her son would continue his education after high school.

But Reis, 21, has an intellectual disability, and college programs for students with his needs are often cost-prohibitive, Wathen said.

Opportunities for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities are growing in Oklahoma. Four universities in the past five years have created degree- or certificate-granting programs for these students that also assist with independent living on a college campus.

The price to attend these programs, though, can exceed how much traditional students have to pay.

State lawmakers advanced legislation this week that could make the difference in the Wathen family’s ability to afford a college education for Reis.

The two bills would allow students with intellectual disabilities up to age 26 to access dollars from the Oklahoma’s Promise scholarship fund.

Receiving students would have their tuition covered at a public in-state college or CareerTech center that offers a comprehensive transition program designed to support students with intellectual disabilities. The measure wouldn’t apply the typical credit requirements of the Oklahoma’s Promise program.

Both bills unanimously passed committee votes in the and this week. The added scholarships are expected to cost $400,000.

Wathen said the legislation could have a “huge impact” for families like hers and give her son a better chance at future job placement.

“I know personally, for my family, it would honestly be the only way Reis would be able to attend a postsecondary college program is if we had some additional financial support to offset those costs,” she said.

Families earning a household income of $100,000 or less would qualify, should either of the bills become law. The household income limit would increase to up to $200,000 if the student has been adopted.

The cost of therapy and medical needs associated with an intellectual disability often make it difficult for families to save for college, said Julie Lackey, director of the Oklahoma Inclusive Post Secondary Education Alliance.

The alliance worked closely with lawmakers and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to develop the scholarship legislation.

Existing scholarships for these students are limited, usually offering only a few thousand dollars a semester, Lackey said. Meanwhile, the college programs that accommodate intellectual disabilities cost between $23,500 and $30,000 a year.

That’s why an organization Lackey founded — Lead, Learn, Live — is raising funds to help offset the cost of tuition and fees for students who are currently enrolled.

“There is nothing as comprehensive that even touches what this (legislation) could do for students,” Lackey said.

Lead, Learn, Live helped found the comprehensive transition programs at Oklahoma State University and Northeastern State University. Giving access to full-tuition scholarships could be “life changing” for current and future students, Lackey said.

It also could put students on a path toward employment.

Of all students with intellectual disabilities who completed a postsecondary program in the U.S., 59% . That’s higher than the , 34%, for working-age adults with an intellectual disability.

The Senate bill’s author, Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore, said initial estimates indicate the state could cover the cost of her legislation without having to raise Oklahoma’s Promise funding.

Currently, 75 students are enrolled in applicable programs, she said, and they have a better shot at gainful employment once they graduate.

“This is, of course, a feel-good bill, but it also has a really meaningful, good ROI for the state,” Seifried said during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday.

When she filed a similar bill in the House, Rep. Ellyn Hefner, D-Oklahoma City, thought of her son, who has an intellectual disability. Hefner said she’s unsure if college will be right for him, but it is for other families.

Some of her son’s friends are enrolled in OSU’s Orange Opportunity Scholars program, which serves students with disabilities like his. Those students are enjoying the traditional college experience, like and playing intramural sports, along with peers who followed a more typical path.

Hefner said she hopes her bill allows more students that opportunity.

“Let’s open this up so that parents and students can decide where they want to go with the finances that they have,” she said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on and .

The Alaska House Education Committee on Monday gave its unanimous support for a price transparency bill aimed at the University of Alaska.

If Senate Bill 13 becomes law, the state university system will be required to list the cost of course materials, including textbooks, in its course catalog.

“This bill has got a simple concept: We’re trying to give students as much information as possible to financially plan as they’re signing up for their classes,” said Sen. Robert Myers, R-North Pole and the sponsor of the bill.

The state Senate , and the education committee was its only stop before a vote of the full House.

“I think it’s a great idea. I want people to be as informed as possible to help them budget,” said Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River and co-chair of the education committee, after Monday’s vote.

SB 13 is modeled on in other states, Myers said.

In provided to the Legislature, the university system said it could implement the bill as part of an ongoing IT modernization program.

University officials cautioned that while they can absorb the financial cost, there will be a time cost as well.

“Requiring professors to focus on administrative tasks takes away from the core educational mission. New professors are particularly vulnerable to compliance,” the fiscal note stated.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on and .

Recent revisions to a federal financial aid form promise to significantly increase the number of students in Hawaii who get help paying for college, but the effort could backfire this year because of issues with the rollout.

The new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which has been streamlined to be shorter and easier to complete, opened three months later than usual. Even now, the online form remains open only intermittently. The challenges could impact when colleges, including the University of Hawaii, send out financial aid offers. 

“On paper, it’s going to be a really good thing,” said Frank Green, a financial aid outreach specialist at the University of Hawaii West Oahu. “It’s just really frustrating because it doesn’t work.” 

In 2021, Hawaii students left $12 million in federal grants for college on the table by choosing not to complete the FAFSA.

The U.S. Department of Education that roughly 1,880 additional Hawaii students could be eligible for federal grants under the “better FAFSA.” The simplified form automatically inputs applicants’ tax return information, saving families from manually filling out the information themselves. 

Last school year, 56% of Hawaii seniors completed the FAFSA — far short of the state’s pre-pandemic goal of getting 90% of students to submit the form. 

Some students don’t fill out the FAFSA simply because they don’t plan on attending college. But others leave the FAFSA untouched because they’re confused by the application or automatically assume they can’t afford a college education, said David Sun-Miyashiro, executive director at HawaiiKidsCAN.

“It blows their minds, what they’re missing out on,” Sun-Miyashiro said, adding that he believes more students would consider higher education if they completed the FAFSA and saw how much aid they could receive. 

A Possible Decline in Applications

Students may not complete the FAFSA for a number of reasons, said Gus Cobb-Adams, a college application and transition specialist for Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education. Students from low-income families may prioritize working after high school. , more graduates have also been taking gap years before entering college, he added. 

But the FAFSA can help students better understand what options they might be able to pursue after graduation. For example, Cobb-Adams said, low-income students who complete the FAFSA could receive over $7,000 in federal grants, which could easily cover the costs of tuition and books at a local community college. 

There are currently 13 states that require high school seniors to complete the FAFSA. While students can also submit an opt-out form, the laws work as a “light nudge” in encouraging students to consider their options for attending and financing college, said Peter Granville, a fellow at The Century Foundation. 

When California’s FAFSA requirement took effect last academic year, it resulted in an outpouring of additional support for families struggling with the application, said Shelveen Ratnam, the communications and public affairs coordinator at the California Student Aid Commission. The FAFSA completion rate for the class of 2023 in California hit 74%, Ratnam added — up 6% from the previous year. 

As current high school seniors navigate a new FAFSA application and face a shortened timeline for completing the form, Ratnam said he’s optimistic that support systems created last year will prevent California’s completion rates from declining. 

In 2021, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz introduced a that would have made the FAFSA a graduation requirement by the 2023-24 school year. The bill did not pass. 

Cobb-Adams said he believes all Hawaii seniors should complete the FAFSA. But he said making it a state law could put an additional strain on counselors who are already stretched thin. 

At Kohala High School on the Big Island, seniors are required to submit a FAFSA or complete a worksheet showing their basic knowledge of the application, said school counselor Erin Henderson. She attributes this requirement, in addition to the school’s popular financial aid nights, to Kohala High’s FAFSA completion rate of 68%, the sixth highest in the state last year. 

Even with these supports in place, Henderson added, she’s worried the delayed release of the FAFSA could reduce the number of students submitting the form this year. The intermittent availability of the online form, combined with its late release, may frustrate some students to the point of giving up, Henderson said. 

“I hope that it won’t result in a reduction, but I do fear that it might,” Henderson said. 

College Uncertainties 

Even if students complete the FAFSA this year, many can expect delays in receiving their financial aid packages, which help families understand how much they will pay for a given college. 

Many students won’t receive their financial aid packages until March or April, Green said. In years when the FAFSA was released on time, colleges began sending out packages in early February. 

This year, Green added, some students may need to make a decision for the fall without receiving financial aid offers from all of their colleges. 

“They may very well be in a position where they’re going to have to make the call without the numbers,” Green said. 

These delays could ultimately affect Hawaii’s college-going rates, Cobb-Adams said. If seniors, especially those who are low-income, are still waiting for financial aid packages in the spring, they may prioritize other pathways like working or joining the military, he added. 

For smaller schools, like Chaminade University, recent changes to the FAFSA may have less of an impact on their abilities to issue financial aid packages, said Chaminade President Lynn Babington. Chaminade’s smaller applicant pool allows the university to process its FAFSA forms more quickly.

Chaminade has hired more representatives to visit high schools across the state and help families complete their FAFSA applications in 2024, Babington said. 

Typically, the University of Hawaii Manoa has encouraged students to submit their college and FAFSA applications by a priority deadline in early February. Students can still apply after February, but less funding for financial aid may be available, said Nikki Chun, vice provost for enrollment management and interim director of admissions at UH Manoa. 

UH Manoa hasn’t changed its priority deadline yet but it’s considering moving it back to later in the year, Chun added. In the past, the university aimed to send out its financial aid packages between January and March. This year, Chun said, the university may start issuing financial aid packages in March at the earliest.   

UH Manoa will continue to encourage new students to enroll by May 1, but the university will be understanding of the delays students are facing this year, Chun added.

“We’re in a mode of just trying to be flexible,” Chun said. 

In the long run, the revised FAFSA looks promising for high school students, Green said, adding that he recently completed his own test application in 10 minutes. In past years, he said, the application has taken him around 30 minutes. 

But, he added, it will take time to work out the current challenges with the FAFSA, and the class of 2024 may pay the price. 

“I think the parents and the students are going to experience new levels of frustration that they don’t deserve,” Green said.

The delayed release of an updated financial aid form has prevented students from knowing if they qualify for new free tuition programs at Arkansas universities.

This fall the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway each announced last-dollar scholarships, which cover what’s left in tuition and fees after federal and state aid is applied to students’ accounts.

All three institutions require students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which is being redesigned and should be available by Dec. 31, according to the .

The form is typically available in October, and the postponement is making Jonathan Coleman “anxious” as UALR’s director of financial aid and scholarships.

“At this point we can’t even tell students who’s eligible for it because we don’t know. The feds don’t even know,” Coleman said. “So hopefully we’ll be able to start communicating with students by mid-February, but that’s just kind of a fingers crossed, let’s hope.”

In the fall of 2024, UALR will offer the program to all freshmen who are Pell Grant-eligible and receive the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship.

Students are not required to live or work on campus or complete an additional form, Coleman said. They simply must apply for admission and the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship and complete the FAFSA form.

The scholarship will be renewable for three years, and officials anticipate awarding it to about 200 freshmen during the inaugural year. The initiative is being supported through a combination of private and institutional funds, Coleman said. This includes a $25 million gift UALR received from an anonymous donor in 2020, $15 million of which was earmarked to establish need-based scholarships.

Coleman said UALR has focused on affordability because the institution has several first-generation and low-income students. Additionally, higher education has increased nationwide and more students are selecting colleges based on affordability rather than an academic program, Coleman said.

According to a 2023 Hanover Research , 46% of surveyed students said they were very or extremely likely to enroll in an institution, but 34% of respondents with higher education doubts cited financial barriers as their primary concern.

“It’s important to give students the opportunity,” Coleman said. “Whether they come or not, it’s up to them, but it’s important that we message that they can if they want to, even if it’s for a semester…some college is better than no college, especially if we’re going to help you pay for it without student loans.”

As a first-generation student, UALR senior Joe Santana said he didn’t know how to apply for scholarships when he started college at a different institution. Because he didn’t receive financial aid, Santana took out student loans.

“My parents, they’re not wealthy,” he said. “They’re immigrants from Mexico and they’ve built everything they have from scratch, so as their first child, they wanted to give opportunities to me and I’m very grateful for them.”

The Dumas native switched to UA-Little Rock his junior year and was pleasantly surprised to receive a scholarship just for transferring. His younger brother enrolled as a freshman at the same time and received the , which offers half-off tuition for eligible students.

That scholarship can be combined with the Trojan Guarantee, Coleman said.

Having learned to navigate college and financial aid on his own, Santana said he feels it’s his duty to assist younger family members, like his cousin who’s graduating high school next year and considering attending UALR.

Santana said it’s important for colleges to advertise financial aid opportunities, especially to first-generation students, and he’s grateful assistance is available.

“I didn’t know how to apply for scholarships and I feel like that is one reason I really couldn’t have any,” Santana said. “UALR having the new scholarships, I hear almost every year it’s something new, it makes me happy because students who have a passion for school like me and didn’t have a lot of money can get a chance at school.”

Arkansas State University

Arkansas State University has launched a statewide advertising campaign promoting its new last-dollar scholarship, A-State Promise Plus.

In addition to announcing the initiative during a , the university has pushed out advertising on social media and billboards around Arkansas, including in places where people aren’t used to seeing an ASU presence, Interim Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Todd Clark said.

“We’ve got a new attitude as an institution,” Clark said. “We’re going to plant our flag in the state as well, and there are a lot of reasons why now is a good time for A-State. Now’s the time. We’ve got a lot of momentum.”

is for students whose households make less than $70,000. The “plus” part of the scholarship, Clark said, is additional funding for on-campus housing.

First-year students receive a $2,500 housing scholarship that increases to $4,500 a year for students who continue to live on campus for their sophomore through senior years.

As everyone awaits the release of the revised FAFSA form, Clark said Arkansas State is encouraging students to apply for admission and submit a .

“If students are willing to submit the CSS Profile, then we are able to determine their eligibility and can start the groundwork for putting together an award package for them, basically an estimate of what we think the Promise Plus will be for them,” Clark said. “Once we get a completed FAFSA, once it gets released, then we’ll be able to lock in their specific award package.”

University of Central Arkansas

The UCA Commitment is open to incoming freshmen at the University of Central Arkansas who are Pell-eligible or whose households make less than $100,000 annually.

Courtney Bryant, associate vice president for enrollment management and UCA commitment director, said there’s a mistrust from some students about the new program because it seems “too good to be true.” Bryant said the FAFSA delay is making it difficult to dispel those concerns.

“This time last year half of our freshman applicants had already submitted their FAFSA, while now we have zero,” she said. “And so we have this wonderful opportunity and we can direct students on what they can be doing…but we can’t definitively say you are eligible for the UCA Commitment because we don’t have all the data points.”

UCA President Houston Davis and a $10 million gift from the Windgate Foundation in September. the donation closed out the school’s capital campaign and supports UCA Commitment. He said $5 million will support an endowment for UCA Commitment and $5 million will support scholarship operations.

Bryant said the university anticipates 40% of incoming freshmen will be eligible, roughly 750-800 students. A unique component of the scholarship is its service requirement of 10 hours per semester.

While finances can be a barrier for college students, Bryant said engagement and belonging are also challenges. Research shows engaged students are more likely to be retained, so the service requirement is a way to invest in students, she said.

“The overall goal is to get them to that degree, so just the retention component is huge as far as the purpose and drive for what we’re trying to do,” she said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .

An appellate panel last week ruled that public university students whose in-person instruction was upturned by school pandemic rules aren’t entitled to a refund.

The  affirms a trial court ruling that found the two universities in question did not have to partially refund tuition to students because in-person instruction went remote in March 2020. The judges ruled that New Jersey’s Emergency Health Powers Act insulates the schools from liability and does not violate the state or federal constitutions.

“Immunizing public entities from liability related to their actions in a statewide public health emergency is a key part of the legislative scheme, as it allows these entities to act quickly, efficiently, and fully to prepare for and react to such circumstances without fear of litigation consequences,” the decision reads.

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In separate cases, students from Kean University and Montclair State University alleged the move to remote schooling constituted a breach of contract, claiming they were denied the education their tuition paid for.

They said the online classes provided them with a worse education and, in some cases, deprived students of access to necessary equipment.

The plaintiffs noted that online classes both universities offered pre-pandemic carried lower tuition.

Both universities issued refunds for housing and dining fees after going remote but kept tuition payments and other fees, including some related to on-campus facilities.

“Notably, plaintiffs do not contend the actions taken by Kean or Montclair in transitioning to total online instruction were unreasonable or unnecessary,” the ruling reads.

Gov. Phil Murphy directed universities to stop in-person instruction in an executive order issued on March 16, 2020. Both universities resumed offering in-person classes in the fall 2021 semester.

It’s not clear whether the plaintiffs will petition the New Jersey Supreme Court for an appeal.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on and .

Getting a college degree has typically paved the way for a better economic future. Those with bachelor’s degrees typically  over their lifetimes than they would have with only a high school diploma.

The price of that college degree has become more daunting by the year. The average undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board for full-time students in the 2020-21 school year was $25,910.

While grants and scholarships offset the cost of college, many people finance their higher education through student loans, which has resulted in about 44 million Americans who are now paying off.

examined data from the to see how college costs for private and public higher education institutions have changed between the 1963 and 2020 academic years, the latest data available. Tuition and fees were weighted by the number of full-time-equivalent undergraduates, while room and board are based on full-time undergraduate students.

Room and board accounts for student housing and meal plans. For public institutions, the in-district or in-state tuition was used. To account for inflation, amounts were calculated in today’s dollars using the Consumer Price Index.

The cost of college since 1963

In the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, the federal government passed several pieces of legislation that sent more money to states to fund higher education and kept college costs down. More people opted to go to college because it was more affordable.

In the last 15 years, states have slashed funding for colleges, spending  on higher education in 2018 than they did in 2008. Colleges opted to shift more of the cost burden onto students by increasing tuition. Household income hasn’t kept up with these increases, so students have primarily turned to student loans to fund their education.

How four-year and two-year college costs compare

Four-year colleges typically cost more than two-year colleges because they tend to spend much more on infrastructure, administration, and student services than two-year colleges. On the whole, four-year colleges are designed for students who leave their families to go to school, so there are more dorms, student health services, student clubs, and programs—and the occasional .

Two-year colleges tend to target commuter students who live at home, and they can also offer more skills-based or technical programs, both of which help keep the school’s overall operating budget lower. While tuition and fees are much cheaper at two-year schools, they do get just from tuition. Cuts in state funding over the last 15 years have caused tuition at these institutions to creep up.

Increases at private schools outpaced public schools

The sticker price of tuition at private schools has far outpaced that of public schools over the last 30 years. Private schools don’t get government funding, so they rely on their endowment, tuition dollars, and donations to cover their costs. They also tend to be smaller than publicly funded schools, so they often charge more tuition and fees since there are fewer students.

That said, private schools often offer tuition discounts as a way to make the costs seem more bearable. These discounts can include merit-based awards, fellowships, grants, and other funds that lower the full tuition price. In 2021-2022, first-time, first-year students at private universities received an estimated on average, which is an all-time high according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Among all undergraduates, private universities offered a 49% average tuition discount rate. Between 2020 and 2022, many schools offered due to the coronavirus pandemic, though many did not renew them when students returned to in-person classes.

Housing has remained a fix portion of cost while dining has decreased

Colleges leverage on-campus room and board as another source of revenue. In the, many colleges added more amenities, technology, and specialized dining options to make them more attractive to prospective students who wanted all the comforts of home. Of course, this contributed to higher costs in terms of maintenance.

While the cost of food has gone down over time, that could be a result of how meal statistics are defined. Prior to the 1986-1987 academic year, board was defined as meals seven days a week, without any insight into how many meals were actually served. Now it’s defined as 20 meals per week.

This story originally appeared on Sound Dollar and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.