Last month, Tom Foley, President of AICUP (The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania) and I wrote the following op-ed for PennLive in response to an earlier editorial they had published that presented some very misleading information. It made good points, but left out the most important details.

A college degree is still the best way to earn more over your lifetime.

Yes, there are some examples, like the one cited in the PennLive piece, where someone without a degree may have a higher base salary early in their career than those who have a college degree. But if money is your only measuring stick on the value of higher education, your best choice is still college. The return on investment of a college degree has never been greater.

According to repeated analyses by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a four-year degree generates an annual return of 14% over a 40-year career—that’s annual return. That means that a college degree will show a rate of return more than twice the rate than if you just put your college money into Dow futures four years ago, and five times the return for bonds, gold or real estate. If college were a stock, it would be the darling of Wall Street.

Bottom line: college grads are 3.5x as likely to improve their income and their “position in life” than those who don’t get the chance to go to college.

And college isn’t just about making more money. On top of those immense economic benefits, there are also societal benefits to a college degree. College graduates volunteer twice as often for local causes, donate 3.5x as much to local charities, are twice as likely to build a small business in their hometown, and 50% more likely to vote.

What families actually pay is the right measuring stick, not the sticker price

Although the price tag of college has risen significantly, institutional financial aid at independent nonprofit institutions has risen more. This is in direct contrast to the PennLive graphic attached to the editorial.

Had PennLive used net tuition and fees (what families actually pay) in its graphic, it would show that AICUP schools’ average net tuition has remained constant (non-inflation-adjusted) for the last 10 years (US Department of Education IPEDs data), averaging $13,057 in the 2020-21 academic year as compared to $13,022 in 2011-12–for the 90+% of students who receive financial-aid grants. If you factor in inflation, the actual cost to families at AICUP schools has gone down.

Here are some other important facts about Pennsylvania’s independent nonprofit colleges and universities:

• Independent nonprofit schools are embedded in 60 communities in PA. They generate $24B to our economy each year, employ over 195,000 people, and pay $1.1B in state/local taxes. These AICUP schools operate without any of the $1.4B in direct State institutional aid that goes to public higher education. They have been competing in the free market (against both publicly funded schools and out-of-state institutions) for an average of 137 years.
• Independent nonprofit schools provide 90% of student financial aid grants, far more than any other higher ed sector. AICUP schools provide 90% of all financial aid grants to first-year students, with the federal government contributing 7% and the state government (largely through PHEAA) 3%. Their competitive net tuition and generous aid policies are part of the reason that PA remains the second-best net importer of out-of-state students in the country.

At the end of the day, the average young person graduating high school today will have 17 jobs in five to six different professions. They will have to be lifelong learners to keep pace with the technology changes that hold so much sway over our daily lives and now occupations. A post-secondary education is still the best way to build skills and the kind of confidence (intellectual and otherwise) that will help you adapt to all that change.

Today’s Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions is very disappointing, but it is not surprising. As I wrote last month, in anticipation of this day, I was a signatory from among LACRELA (Liberal Arts College Equity Leadership Alliance) presidents in an open letter voicing our opposition to this ruling and outlining strategies to improve access for all students to our institutions. You can read more about those strategies here.

For decades no student has been denied or granted admission to Susquehanna based upon their race. This is true at the majority of colleges and universities in the U.S. We do many things to recruit a talented and diverse student population to our campus. That diversity enhances the learning opportunities for all our students, and it prepares them to be better leaders in the evermore diverse communities they will call home after graduation.

At Susquehanna University, our mission is to educate students for productive, creative, and reflective lives of achievement, leadership, and service in a diverse, dynamic, and interdependent world. A diverse student body is integral to that mission. As LACRELA’s open letter states, holistic review of applicants is critical to recruiting a well-rounded class — from racial and ethnic diversity, to gender and geographic representation, to socioeconomic diversity. We strive to create a culture on our campuses that mirrors the world our graduates are entering.

We know that the single most powerful thing a person can do to improve their economic position is to get a college degree. In order for colleges and universities to fulfill our promise of economic and social mobility, we must continue rectifying the systemic barriers that have kept so many talented students of color out of higher education. This is what we are called to do.

Although today’s Supreme Court ruling is disheartening, Susquehanna will continue the important work of expanding access to the transformative experience of a college education and ensuring that students from minoritized populations feel they belong here and thrive.

June has become a dedicated time to lift up our friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members who are members of the LGBTQ+ community. It is an opportunity to recognize the obstacles these individuals and groups have overcome, and sadly, it is also an occasion to shine a light on obstacles that remain.

Pride Month began with the Stonewall Riots that followed a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in lower Manhattan, in late June 1969. These riots were a watershed moment of advocacy that continued to be celebrated over the coming years. In 1999, President Clinton officially declared June to be Pride Month.

The past few years have been especially challenging for the LGBTQ+ community and all of us who love them, because fundamental human freedoms are being challenged around the world and in our own nation. These challenges are driven by pernicious ignorance and, sadly, hate.

We know better. As we reflect on what has been accomplished to support LGBTQ+ rights over the past decades, and as we confront efforts to reverse that progress, I encourage each of us to recommit to assuring that all members of our community can fully express their authentic selves and openly love whom they love without fear, without judgement, and without hesitation. We are who we are, and love is love.

We all deserve to express our identities freely and to celebrate the love and care of the partners of our choice fully. For many, this sadly remains a daunting proposition, and one that is being hatefully challenged in many corners of our nation today. It is my hope that we will relegate those challenges to the past.

Our LGBTQ+ neighbors who are out are invaluable role models for our community by being true to themselves and to us. Our student and faculty and staff affinity groups, like GSA, provide opportunities to celebrate and reflect, and they foster joy-filled opportunities for all members of our community to be proud of who they are. I am grateful for their example, and I am so proud of their courage and integrity. Happy Pride Month!