Higher education 'attainment gap' still a concern

Just this fall, according to a Monday story in the Gainesville Times, more than 7,000 students have been "purged" from Georgia's colleges and universities.

That word isn't as ominous here as it might sound but it's ominous enough. It means, in this context, that thousands of young Georgians had to drop out of higher education because they could no longer afford it.

This is not a new story, or a new problem. But it's one that seems to be getting worse, and the students losing access to higher education aren't the only losers.

Georgia's higher ed "attainment gap" was a central topic of discussion last week as the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education hosted a Critical Issues Forum at the Atlanta offices of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

One of the most frustrating realities of this gap is how small it is in some cases, and how much is lost over so little money: "Sometimes they are not able to finish because of a lack of a few hundred dollars," University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby told the audience. "I'm talking about thousands in most cases, but sometimes it's less than $1,000."

Money isn't the only obstacle to Georgians attaining the advanced levels of education that are more and more in demand in an increasingly sophisticated economy. But in a poor state like Georgia -- which desperately needs to up its educational game to break out of that poverty -- it's the biggest one. It's a viciously familiar cycle: A poor population needs more money to acquire education, and it needs the education to acquire more money.

The highly acclaimed HOPE scholarship and grant programs deserve the national stature with which they are regarded, forum participants pointed out: HOPE is the top-rated program of purely merit-based postsecondary financial aid in the country.

Need-based financial aid in Georgia, where need is far above the national average, is a grimmer story: Huckaby said Georgia is "in a tie with three other states for the bottom."

Making college and technical college education affordable for students, and in a way that is also affordable for the schools and the state, will require collaboration and partnerships. The University System, Huckaby said, must work together with the Technical College System, independent colleges and business/industry leaders to prepare students for careers.

"One of the things we had to realize," said Gail Thaxton, president of North Georgia Technical College, "was we could no longer think of students when they come in the door as a new or returning student. We had to think of that student as a graduate."

How much extraordinary talent and potential productivity is wasted because people are denied access to advanced education for no other reason than money? Whatever it costs us is a lot more than what it would cost to give them an opportunity.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Higher education 'attainment gap' still a concern."