President Fernández Tells Council Committee: T.A.P. Aid Critical for Most Lehman Students
November 20, 2009
Higher education would be "out of reach" for many Lehman students without Federal and State financial aid, Lehman President Ricardo R. Fernández told the New York City Council Committee on Higher Education, during its November 18 hearing on how the State's proposed budget deficit reduction plan would impact CUNY.
Because most Lehman students are from the Bronx, where the poverty rate is twice the national average, he explained, their situation is more dire than for most others. At all public four-year colleges, he said, only eleven percent of students have a family income of less than $20,000 a year—but at Lehman, a recent study of incoming students showed that thirty-eight percent have a family income of less than $20,000 a year.
Similarly, he said, at all public four-year colleges, thirty-five percent of students have a family income of less than $50,000 a year—but at Lehman that percentage again is significantly higher: Seventy-three percent of incoming Lehman students have a family income of less than $50,000 a year.
"It should come as no surprise, therefore," he said, "that just twenty-six percent of Lehman College's incoming students were confident they would have sufficient funds to finance their education. From an institutional perspective, that lack of confidence is worrisome."
Moreover, he added, finding employment is not the answer because Lehman students are already working in addition to attending class. One-third work over twenty hours a week, he said, and almost twenty percent work thirty-five hours a week or more. If the State's Tuition Assistance Program is reduced, he warned, a student may need to work still longer hours—"if he or she can find a part-time job in the recession-swept labor market"—and that "is likely to have a negative impact on college retention and graduation rates."
While recognizing the State's difficult financial situation, he also pointed out that "a failure to understand the value of higher education will certainly have real implications for tomorrow's labor force and tax base."