Shut Out of Higher Education

By Brent Staples. The United States set out 40 years ago to ensure that people who qualified academically for higher education would not be turned away for financial reasons and would have access to college degrees that allowed them to move up on the social ladder. This plan required the states to subsidize public colleges and universities to keep tuition affordable, while the federal government furnished the poorest students with Pell Grants that largely covered the remaining costs. More...