Decades of declining state financial aid and an increasingly complex array of small grants, scholarships, and tuition waivers are leaving Massachusetts public college students deep in debt and worsening educational gaps in the state, says a report by the Hildreth Institute.
The study, which examines state-funded financial aid available to students in Massachusetts between 2001 and 2021, shows that state financial aid per student steadily declined over the last two decades, eroding the purchasing power of state grants and scholarships. The average amount of state aid students receive now covers only 12 percent of the cost to attend public college in Massachusetts, the report states.
The report suggests that for Massachusetts to truly reach its key educational priorities, the student financial aid system needs to see continued, significant investments that address students’ unmet financial needs and help simplify the path to receiving financial aid. Only then will the process of getting a credential or degree from the state’s public higher education system become more accessible and attainable, the report says.