Revisiting College Affordability: Sociopolitical Contexts and Contemporary Implications

This chapter examines the political economic context that has created difficulty for college students in financing their education, and it presents the current college affordability situation, including how today’s students pay for college. The authors consider material implications of college unaffordability, including the substantial problem of housing and food insecurity, as well as how colleges and universities are responding to these conditions and the role for policy in improving college affordability.

Keywords: higher education; affordability; political economy; financial aid; basic needs; precarity