Affordability
An American college education is said to be the most expensive college education in the
world. Especially with a struggling economy, cost is a big issue for adult learners as well as
what types of assistance exists to combat the cost of college. Current patterns of financial aid
and institutional funding reinforce the disadvantages that face adult learners.
Most financial-aid programs are designed with full-time students in mind. Basically
federal student aid is “financial assistance that’s available through the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid” (FAFSA, 2008). For federal financial aid, you must
be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate
in an eligible program and most federal grants cannot be used for noncredit courses. Most federal
education loans are only available to students attending half time or more (Kazis et al., 2007).
With a few exceptions, Federal Pell Grants are available only to undergraduate students.
Grants do not have to be repaid. Technically, Pell Grants are available to less-than-half-time
students, but the eligibility formula does not allow these students to count living expenses or
other indirect costs as part of the cost of education like federal aid programs do. Also, Pell
eligibility is based on the previous year’s income and penalizes working adults seeking to return
to school following layoffs and sharp reductions in income. Lastly, Pell Grants cannot be used
for non-degree or non-credit programs that might otherwise be attractive to working adults who
want to improve specific job related skills (Kazis et al., 2007). If one meets the requirements,
the amount you get will depends not only financial need, but also costs to attend school, student
status, and plans to attend school for a full academic year or less” (FAFSA, 2008).
State student aid policies generally follow federal eligibility rules. A majority of the
states provide no grant aid to less than-half-time students. Almost all states have very early aid
application deadlines that disadvantage adults whose work and family obligations discourage
long-term planning (Kazis et al., 2007).