CSU Chancellor: Leveling the playing field through financial aid helps our country | Opinion

Throughout my childhood, my parents would repeat the same mantra to my siblings and me: “La única herencia que una familia pobre le deja a sus hijos es una buena educación” (The only inheritance a poor family can leave its children is a good education).

Those words stuck with me as I became the first college graduate in my family. Access to higher education changed the whole trajectory of my life and that of my entire family. Now, as the first Latina chancellor of the California State University system, I am proud to say that we are serving as an engine for social mobility for historically underserved populations — moving students from lower class to middle class and beyond at an incomparable scale.

Opinion

But we must continue to fight for that accessibility.

Nearly half of our undergraduates receive Pell Grants, the foundation of federal student aid in the CSU system and across the country. A staggering 220,000 CSU students in 2022-23 depended on this money to fund their education, stay out of debt and achieve their goal of graduating.

The importance of Pell Grants goes way beyond accessibility for college: Those who receive Pell remain in school at greater rates, finish college with less or even no debt and graduate more quickly.

However, there is a lot of misinformation presented to students about the affordability and value of college. There have been stories in recent months about college costs hitting $100,000 a year at elite schools. But what is not noted is that this is the sticker price without financial aid factored in. These stories also do not differentiate between the cost of Harvard and, say, CSU, Dominguez Hills. The reality is that the average CSU tuition costs about $8,000 per year — sometimes less or free with financial aid.

There are also stories of students graduating with $50,000 to $100,000 in debt. That’s a worst-case scenario. More than half of CSU students graduate with no debt, and for those that do, it is — on average — roughly $15,000 for four years or more of college.

Finally, some members of Congress that want to bash “high-price colleges” use hearings to further exaggerate this misconception, leading some to believe that individuals are better off not going to college. Combine this with difficulties in accessing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and you have a perfect storm.

Students who would otherwise apply for college are working low-income jobs instead, not realizing that Pell can make their dreams of a better life a reality. Because of this, some funds could and should be spent on Pell sitting idle. At present it largely goes unused (at times, Congress raids these funds for other purposes).

This is unacceptable. If we used the Pell reserves solely as intended — for Pell-eligible students — we could easily increase the maximum Pell Grant significantly and still maintain an emergency reserve. This, in turn, would enable more students to follow their dreams of pursuing higher education and a better life.

This is not just a California problem, it is a national problem, impacting those on the lowest economic rung to the greatest extent. Pell is meant to level the playing field for all Americans. We need to ensure that it is used that way to successfully increase opportunities for all.

That’s why the CSU system stands as a leader in the push to double the Pell Grant. It would improve college access for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, restore automatic cost-of-living increases to the maximum grant and reserve any surplus funds for future program needs or improvements. It would also deliver meaningful returns in the form of improved student persistence, higher completion rates and enhanced basic needs support for students from modest financial means.

Doubling the Pell Grant would be significant for the state and the country: The CSU drives the economic vitality of California, the largest economy in the U.S. and the fifth largest economy in the world.

As our federal lawmakers debate and vote on the bipartisan bill to expand access to Pell Grants for short-term academic programs, the CSU calls upon them to strengthen and expand our investment in the Pell for the sake of all students seeking higher education and for the sake of our state and the country which depends on the success of these young scholars.

Dr. Mildred García is the California State University’s 11th chancellor.