Correction: A previous version of this story misstated what was included in a cost estimate from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The estimate of $28,639 includes tuition and fees as well as books, transportation, room and board and other expenses.
For Frisco ISD students, rising tuition costs are changing the way students approach college, whether by taking more dual credit courses or working through college, Lonestar High School lead counselor Abby Cole said.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates the average cost of tuition, fees, books, transportation, room and board and other expenses for a full-time undergraduate student is $28,639 per year.
The affects of these rising costs are reaching state lawmakers. Prioritized by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senate Bills 18 and 19 going through the Texas Legislature aim to decrease tuition costs at public universities, which are rising an average of 6 percent per year, according to the THECB.
The effectiveness of such bills is up for debate even if passed, according to higher education officials, and paying for college is still a primary concern for graduating high school seniors and those already enrolled in college.
FISD Trends
Rising tuition costs are leading students to not commit to colleges too quickly, Cole said.
“I think a lot of kids are applying to a lot of different schools, and then they’re waiting until the end to see what kind of scholarship offers they’re getting,” she said. “I’ve noticed that a lot this year with our seniors. They’re getting accepted to a lot of schools, but they’re not giving their word that they’re going to come there yet until see what scholarship packages and financial aid packages they’re going to be offered.”
Despite the trend of rising tuition, many FISD students still opt to attend four-year universities after high school instead of community colleges, which are known for lower tuition rates.
However, out of the students who attend a two-year institution, a rising number of them enroll as a part-time student rather than a full-time student.
“Those who tend to go to community college part time is because they are also wanting to work,” Cole said. “Sometimes, they are even having to help provide to pay bills for their family. So they’re having to help Mom and Dad out as well.”
Cole said some students just want to be more independent and decide to work while they take college courses.
Anticipating debt
Counselors at FISD schools try to sit down with students early to talk about debt after college, because a lot of students do not consider that in their college plans, Cole said.
“Teenagers a lot of times are all about the here and now and how it’s going to affect them right now, not in their future,” she said
According to the Institute for College Access and Success, in 2015 the average student loan debt at graduation in Texas was $27,324 for public universities.
Students have to file financial aid forms as a dependent student until they are age 24 or meet independent status through other avenues, such as both parents being deceased, being in foster care after the age of 13, or having a child whom they support more than 50 percent.
Despite decreases in state aid to colleges and rapid tuition growth over the years, Texas ranks seventh nationwide in higher education affordability, according to the 2016 College Affordability Diagnosis from the Penn Graduate School of Education.
Raymund Paredes, higher education commissioner for the THECB, said one of the greatest challenges for colleges and families is finding enough funding to cover all students in need of tuition relief. He said as grant money at the state and federal levels falls short, higher education officials will have to find solutions.
“We recognize that the current model of relying on either federal grant aid or state grant aid, primarily through the Texas grant program, will be very difficult to sustain in the future,” he said.
Cost-saving alternatives
A growing number of students are turning to scholarships to help pay for college, Frisco Education Foundation Director Allison Miller said. The education foundation, which was incorporated in 1999, is a nonprofit organization separate from FISD that awards scholarships and grants to FISD students and educators.
“We had 1,172 applications submitted from the Frisco ISD class of 2017,” she said. “The need is increasing. …Very rarely can parents pay for college. If we can help in even a small way to circumvent a huge student loan debt, then we’re very happy about that.”
FEF is allocating at least $670,000 in scholarships to more than 800 students this year, and the organization plans to raise funds for more scholarships next year, Miller said.
More FISD students are also turning to dual credit courses to help lessen the load of college tuition, Cole said.
FISD is one of many Collin County school districts that partners with Collin College to offer dual credit courses. According to Brenda Kihl, executive vice president at Collin College, dual credit course enrollment increased 71 percent from 2012-16.
“Every course you take is about a $400 savings,” Kihl said. “Dual credit means that they are taking a college credit, but they are also meeting the high school requirements for that course. We have a large number of students who are graduating high school with 30 college credits—that’s a whole year of college.”
Collin College reported a 20 percent increase in the number of students enrolled in the dual credit program from fall 2015 to fall 2016, Kihl said. More than 500 FISD students were enrolled in dual credit courses this past year, she said.
Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, courses will be added to allow the graduating FISD class of 2021 to earn an associate degree as well as a high school diploma. The cost for the associate degree program is the same as the cost for tuition, fees and books in the dual credit program.
Collin College, which has campuses in Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Plano and Rockwall, offers a semester of 12 credit hours for just over $500. In comparison, a semester of 12 credit hours at The University of Texas is $5,055, and a similar semester at Southern Methodist University is $26,249.
“This is one semester, so if a student comes to Collin for two years, they can save $20,000 [compared with UT], which is basically a brand new car,” Kihl said. “That’s the biggest financial impact a community college can make.”
The partnerships vary by university, but most allow students to attend classes at the Collin Higher Education Center in McKinney while obtaining a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from one of the partner universities. Students pay the tuition rates for the colleges, but Kihl said the option allows students to stay at home longer, which can be a cost savings.
The partnership is offered not only to Collin College students—any student registered for classes at the offering university can register for classes at the higher education center. As it stands now, only those degrees listed on the higher education center website are being offered through the partnership, but more degrees may be added in the future, according to Collin College officials.
Bills Address costs
Another bill, SB 543, also filed by Seliger, would require state schools to meet performance-based metrics before being allowed to raise tuition. Language from this bill has since been added to 19.
Since House Bill 3015 was passed by the 78th Texas Legislature in 2003, allowing public universities to vary tuition rates, tuition has risen at public universities from 2003-15 by as much as 178 percent. Students paid a statewide average of $1,687 more per semester in 2015 than they did in 2003, according to the THECB.
However, the universities attribute such increases to a decrease in state funding per student, enrollment growth and an increase in costs.
As of May 5, SB 18 and SB 19 had been passed by the Senate and were in the House under review.
