In the fall of 2008, a team of researchers began studying some 3,000 Pell Grant recipients who had enrolled in Wisconsin’s 42 public colleges and universities for the first time that year.

In the fall of 2008, a team of researchers began studyin" rel="nofollow">ing some 3,000 Pell Grant recipients who had enrolled in" rel="nofollow">in Wisconsin" rel="nofollow">in’s 42 public colleges and universities for the first time that year. At age 18, they were ambitious, committed (all began full time), and entirely unaware that, six years later, fewer than half of them would complete a degree of any kin" rel="nofollow">ind. What they also did not know (yet) was that the research team, which I led, would follow them on their college journeys. In an effort to better understand why some students from low-in" rel="nofollow">income families, for whom the grants are in" rel="nofollow">intended, fin" rel="nofollow">inish college and others do not, we took an uncommonly deep dive by surveyin" rel="nofollow">ing them from the start, examin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing their fin" rel="nofollow">inancial aid and academic records semester after semester, and talkin" rel="nofollow">ing with 50 of them in" rel="nofollow">in person year after year. We stuck with those students, even when college wasn’t workin" rel="nofollow">ing out as planned, and even when they dropped out. Our fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings contrast sharply with the stories often told by people workin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in higher education. In essence, we learned that, with apologies to the Who, "the kids are not alright." Nor do they — even the 18 year olds — resemble "kids." Here are five thin" rel="nofollow">ings we learned: 1. The way the federal government measures students’ fin" rel="nofollow">inancial need is misleadin" rel="nofollow">ing and even flat-out wrong. It overstates a family’s ability to pay for college by ignorin" rel="nofollow">ing debt and the hardships that go with it, and grossly understates the actual costs of attendin" rel="nofollow">ing college. 2. Although colleges often expect families to fin" rel="nofollow">inancially support their children while they attend college, the reverse is happenin" rel="nofollow">ing — low-in" rel="nofollow">income children are supportin" rel="nofollow">ing their parents, grandparents, and even siblin" rel="nofollow">ings, all while bein" rel="nofollow">ing unable to buy their books. 3. Again" rel="nofollow">inst a backdrop of in" rel="nofollow">increasin" rel="nofollow">ingly fancy residence halls and sushi bars in" rel="nofollow">in campus cafeterias, a significant fraction of students are goin" rel="nofollow">ing without sufficient food or housin" rel="nofollow">ing. 4. Workin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in college is an American tradition. But 2016 is not 1975. Many students without jobs are searchin" rel="nofollow">ing for work they can’t fin" rel="nofollow">ind. Others are holdin" rel="nofollow">ing down two or even three min" rel="nofollow">inimum-wage jobs to try to make enough, and too many students are workin" rel="nofollow">ing the graveyard shift because it pays more, goin" rel="nofollow">ing from work straight to class without a night’s sleep. 5. Loans are supposed to let students afford college now, focus on their studies, and pay the piper later — but that’s often not how they work in" rel="nofollow">in reality. Loans affect students long before they come due. With prices at an all-time high, takin" rel="nofollow">ing a loan for college has become a necessity rather than a choice. Yet the prospects of graduatin" rel="nofollow">ing from college, let alone gettin" rel="nofollow">ing a good job afterward, are uncertain" rel="nofollow">in. Feelin" rel="nofollow">ing forced in" rel="nofollow">into borrowin" rel="nofollow">ing is contributin" rel="nofollow">ing to stress durin" rel="nofollow">ing college. To make money through work and min" rel="nofollow">inimize their loan exposure, students sacrifice participation in" rel="nofollow">in the sorts of academic and social activities that build networks and learnin" rel="nofollow">ing, the kin" rel="nofollow">inds of activities that in" rel="nofollow">increase the economic returns of their degrees. And yes, it contributes to resentment and distress when the loans must be repaid. These are the new economics of college — and they are harsh. In debates about payin" rel="nofollow">ing for higher education, it has been argued that Pell recipients are the only ones gettin" rel="nofollow">ing a good deal, sin" rel="nofollow">ince the Pell is a grant. But when the Pell program began, it was supposed to cover the cost of attendin" rel="nofollow">ing college. Not anymore. Nin" rel="nofollow">ine out of 10 Pell recipients graduate with debt. Of the Pell recipients who attend public colleges and universities — two-thirds of all Pell recipients — just 48 percent who start college full time complete a degree or certificate of any kin" rel="nofollow">ind within" rel="nofollow">in six years. Of the remain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing 52 percent, one in" rel="nofollow">in three leaves with a double burden: no credential and an average of $9,000 in" rel="nofollow">in student-loan debt. Price, not in" rel="nofollow">intellect or effort, is the primary sortin" rel="nofollow">ing mechanism in" rel="nofollow">in today’s colleges. As students move from one year to the next, class materials should get harder and students should need to study more. In a system like that, a degree would say somethin" rel="nofollow">ing about ability. But that is not what’s happenin" rel="nofollow">ing today. Time after time, the failure to complete college does not reflect in" rel="nofollow">intellectual in" rel="nofollow">inability but rather an in" rel="nofollow">inability to pay. When college does not work out just because the money isn’t there, families and communities view the results as a powerful warnin" rel="nofollow">ing sign. They see the broken promises of public education in" rel="nofollow">in this country. Fortunately, there is plenty that higher education can do to remedy this unforgivable situation. We don’t need to wait for state or federal policy makers to step up. Colleges can do a lot right now. First, colleges can do a better job of assessin" rel="nofollow">ing students’ readin" rel="nofollow">iness to learn. Placement tests are popular, and grades can be markers of performance, but those thin" rel="nofollow">ings don’t tell us if students’ basic needs are met. Remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: food, housin" rel="nofollow">ing, safety, and sleep must be assured before we can move on to higher-order tasks. Second, colleges can listen to students and give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they are sleepin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in class not out of boredom but out of exhaustion. Maybe they don’t have their books not because they don’t care to buy them, but because they didn’t get enough aid to pay for them. Maybe they really do need another loan because if they don’t get it, their mom will need them to drop out and go to work. Fin" rel="nofollow">inally, it’s time to thin" rel="nofollow">ink big. Beyond the perimeter of every in" rel="nofollow">institution is a community. We know education takes a village. It also takes a village to fight the poverty and fin" rel="nofollow">inancial stresses that prevent college success. So engage the village. Local food banks, social workers, housin" rel="nofollow">ing authorities, transportation agencies — they are your partners. Wishin" rel="nofollow">ing that college were affordable, or simply assertin" rel="nofollow">ing that fin" rel="nofollow">inancial aid works, doesn’t make those thin" rel="nofollow">ings true. All over the country, millions of people are strugglin" rel="nofollow">ing to make ends meet, and undergraduates are no exception. Helpin" rel="nofollow">ing students succeed, and fulfillin" rel="nofollow">ing the promises of our educational system, requires listenin" rel="nofollow">ing and learnin" rel="nofollow">ing from them. Sara Goldrick-Rab is a professor of higher-education policy and sociology at Temple University, and founder of the Wisconsin" rel="nofollow">in HOPE Lab. Her new book, Payin" rel="nofollow">ing the Price: College Costs, Fin" rel="nofollow">inancial Aid, and the Betrayal of the American Dream, will be published next month by the University of Chicago Press.