specific to New Hampshire’s public colleges, the relationships (elasticity) between variables can be applied to any institution or any aggregation of institutions to estimate impact on debt levels of changes in tuition.
X.
Conclusions
The findings of this report suggest that the characteristics of and college enrollment decisions of New Hampshire high school graduates combine with the generally higher cost of colleges in New Hampshire and the New England region, and the higher education policies of state governments, to result in college graduates from New Hampshire colleges and college graduates from New Hampshire with the highest levels of student debt in the nation. But the report also highlights how the absence of affordable public college options in New Hampshire contributes to the higher debt levels of college graduates from New Hampshire. The report documents factors that contribute to higher college costs in New Hampshire and the New England region and points to actions that can be taken to slow the rise of tuition or reduce tuition prices at New Hampshire’s public colleges. Unfortunately, the findings of this report are discouraging for students and parents wanting to remain in New Hampshire and the New England region while minimizing the cost of a college education and reducing their need to borrow to pay for it. New Hampshire and New England face a number of demographic challenges. Historically the region has thrived because a concentration of individuals with high levels of educational attainment allowed the region to be innovative enough to overcome the many other disadvantages it faced. All regions in the country are confronted with the challenge of producing or attracting individuals with the educational attainment and skills needed to prosper in today’s
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