Families in Pennsylvania have to dig deeper to pay for their children to go to college than in almost any other state, according to a report to be released today.
But students in Pennsylvania are more likely than their peers across the nation to complete their degrees on time, said the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, an independent California think tank.
Both findings can be attributed - at least in part - to the prevalence of private colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. Forty-one percent of college students go to a private school in Pennsylvania, about twice the national average, said Don Francis, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.
"Private institutions tend to be smaller institutions, and I think that within smaller institutions students are not as likely to get lost. Now, there are some smaller institutions in the state college system," said Ralph Pearson, provost at Duquesne University.
Students also have a financial interest in finishing their degrees quickly at a private school.
"With the prices that they charge, the reality is that folks want to get out of there," said Dennis Jones, a consultant to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
According to the report, 60 percent of students in Pennsylvania finish their bachelor's degree within five years of graduating high school. The report said that Pennsylvania is in the top five among the 50 states for college completion; a national average was not available.
However, families here spend a greater share of their income on higher education than elsewhere in the nation. At public universities, families can expect to spend 30 percent of their income on tuition, compared to about 18 percent in the five most affordable states.
University officials blame lackluster state funding for the high cost of higher education in Pennsylvania. For example, state funding for the 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education has increased less than 2 percent over the past five years, while enrollment has grown 6 percent, spokesman Kenn Marshall said.
This year, funding for the state system fell 3 percent.
The high cost of private education also may drive up costs at public universities in Pennsylvania, experts said.
"We have a history in this state of having a lot of students in the private sector and allowing the public sector tuition to remain high, so the public sector students may not receive as much support as in other states," Francis said.
Parents who send their children to private schools in Pennsylvania can expect to spend 63 percent of their income on tuition, about twice the rate in the most affordable states.
On the other hand, Pennsylvania is among the top states in the nation for awarding grants to low-income families, the report said. Despite budget cuts elsewhere, state funding for higher education grants increased 3.5 percent this year, according to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
"The reality is it's still a very high cost state for students going to college," Jones said.
