Alabama’s higher ed funding cuts since 2008 are country’s third deepest
Alabama’s cuts to state higher education funding over the last decade are among the deepest in the country, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C. The funding decline persisted even as the state’s economy began to rebound from the Great Recession. Since 2008, Alabama has slashed state higher education funding by 34.6 percent or $4,290 per student, CBPP found. The state’s cuts are the nation’s third worst by dollar amount and fifth worst by percentage. Nationally, the average cuts since 2008 are 16 percent or $1,502 per student. Alabama’s inadequate public investment in higher education over the last decade has contributed to rising tuition prices, often leaving students with little choice but to take on more debt or give up on their dreams of going to college. Between 2008 and 2018, the average tuition at public four-year institutions in Alabama jumped by $4,329, or 69.8 percent – far outpacing the national average growth of 36 percent. These soaring costs have seemingly erected barriers to opportunity for young people across Alabama, particularly for black, Hispanic and low-income students. “Pushing the cost of college onto students and their families will not make our state stronger,” said Carol Gundlach, policy analyst for Alabama Arise, a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of congregations, organizations and individuals promoting public policies to improve the lives of low-income Alabamians. “We must invest adequately in higher education to be able to build an Alabama where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.” In Alabama, a college education is even less affordable than many other states across the country , especially for black and Hispanic families. In 2017, the average tuition and fees at a public four-year university accounted for: 21 percent of median household income for all Alabama families. 32.2 percent of median household income for black families in Alabama. 26.8 percent of median household income for Hispanic families in Alabama. “The rising cost of college risks blocking one of America’s most important paths to economic mobility,” explained CBPP senior policy analyst Michael Mitchell, the report’s lead author. “And while these costs hinder progress for everyone, black, Hispanic and low-income students continue to face the most significant barriers to opportunity.” Student debt Financial aid has failed to bridge the gap created by rising tuition and relatively stagnant incomes. As a result, the share of students graduating with debt has increased. Between 2008 and 2015, the share of students graduating with debt from a public four-year institution rose from 55 percent to 59 percent nationally. The average amount of debt also increased during this period. On average, bachelor’s degree recipients at four-year public schools saw their debt grow by 26 percent (from $21,226 to $27,000). By contrast, the average amount of debt rose by only about 1 percent in the six years prior to the recession. A large and growing share of future jobs will require college-educated workers. Alabama Arise believes greater public investment in higher education, particularly in need-based aid, would help Alabama develop the skilled and diverse workforce it needs to match the jobs of the future. “All Alabamians, regardless of their income or where they grow up, deserve an opportunity to reach their full potential,” Gundlach added. “Our state should end tax breaks for large corporations and invest in making college more affordable for the students who need assistance the most.”
45,000 Alabamians at risk of losing food stamp benefits as work requirements resume
A federal waiver which allowed states to waive work requirements for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as the Food Stamp program, expired Jan. 1. The expiration of the federal waiver means that about 45,000 Alabamians receiving SNAP benefits must acquire work to maintain their benefits. The change does not affect recipients with physical or mental disabilities, only those who are “able-bodied” adults, ages 18 to 49, without dependents and receiving $194 a month in benefits. Along with exceptions for disabled recipients, those who are pregnant or caring for an incapacitated person. Though the expiration of the waiver requires these able-bodied Alabamians to work, or be enrolled in a training program, at least 80 hours a month, SNAP benefit recipients affected are allowed three months without a job during a 36-month period. The highest number of affected recipients is in Jefferson County, 6,377, with Mobile County close behind at 5,068. The work requirement waiver will continue to be observed in 13 of Alabama’s 67 counties suffering from high unemployment rates, including Barbour, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Monroe, Perry, Sumter, Washington and Wilcox counties. As many as 1 million people nationally could lose SNAP benefits as a result of the waiver expiration, 40 percent of them women and a quarter who do not have a high school diploma, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
