This article is part of NASFAA's occasional book review series, where members share their reflections on books, published within the past five years, on higher education themes of interest to financial aid professionals. The opinions offered and statements made do not imply endorsement by NASFAA or the authors' employers and do not guarantee the accuracy of information presented. Would you like to suggest a book for a future review? Email us at [email protected] with your recommendation.
As financial aid administrators, we regularly communicate with students and families about paying for college. We educate them about financial aid eligibility and the different types of aid available, and discuss resources and affordability. So, when we think about college costs, we typically think about the people we work with every day: students and parents. In their book, “Who Should Pay?: Higher Education, Responsibility, and the Public,” authors Natasha Quadlin and Brian Powell challenge that thinking, asking readers not only to consider who actually benefits from the college degree a student earns, but to think of college costs within the concepts of private responsibility, shared responsibility, and public responsibility.
Quadlin and Powell are both college professors in the academic field of sociology, and they support much of the content of “Who Should Pay?” with the results of their 2010 and 2015 survey study titled “Constructing the Family and Higher Education (CFHE).” CFHE asked individuals about topics related to the public perception of higher education, especially concerning access, value, and financial responsibility. Within the book’s seven chapters, the main question the authors attempt to address is who is primarily responsible for paying for college education.
In the first chapter, the authors explain why it is important for readers to understand public perceptions of college access and college affordability. Once that foundation is set, they shift the focus to the American perception of who should have primary responsibility for funding college education. This is where they introduce readers to the concepts of private responsibility (student/parents), shared responsibility (government along with parents and/or students), and public responsibility (federal, state, or local government) for funding college education.
The subsequent chapters discuss why individuals believe certain stakeholders have primary responsibility for college costs, free college tuition as a possible solution, Americans’ public perception of college accessibility for students relative to open or limited access, and public perception of the value of education.
The book concludes with decisive statements addressing financial responsibility and briefly discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic might have influenced the financial structure and perception of American higher education (supported by data collected by the authors in July 2020).
This book’s primary audience may be politicians, legislators, and executive college administrators, but it also provides insightful information that can be relevant to anyone who is interested in college access and affordability. It is well organized, and each topic flows cohesively. Although the authors present survey data, the text is not written like a research report, and its themes should be easy for readers to comprehend and digest.
Even though the book is well written, I found its relatability to the current higher education climate questionable at times. Published in 2022, the book recognizes the possible influence of the pandemic on higher education and the authors even attempt to use information from their supplemental survey, conducted in July 2020, to discuss how the pandemic has affected the American perception about the funding of higher education. Data from this supplemental survey indicated the pandemic environment had created hardly any change in the American public perception. However, it seems data gathered post-COVID would have more relevance to the current perception of higher education, since the outcomes of the pandemic served as a financial domino that is still having a rollover effect on the public and higher education as well as at every level of government.
I still believe this book is a great read and provides interesting insights into the public perception of financial responsibility for higher education. But to validate their belief that the post-pandemic American perception of higher education has not significantly changed, the authors would need to use an in-depth supplemental survey taken at the conclusion of the pandemic, or at least after August 2021, when the economy began to recover and more students returned in person to college campuses in the United States. Overall, the book's authors provide readers interested in the dynamics of the public perception of American higher education with viewpoints and ideas based primarily on collected data and research.
“Who Should Pay? Higher Education, Responsibility, and the Public,” by Natasha Quadlin and Brian Powell, Russell Sage Foundation, January 14, 2022.
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Heather Cowherd is a financial aid officer within the Department of Student Financial Assistance at Western Kentucky University. She began her career in student financial assistance more than 10 years ago as a financial aid counselor and since then has transitioned into other roles related to financial wellness education, research, compliance, and processing aid. Cowherd holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and news editorial and a master’s degree in public administration and instructional systems designs. She is an avid reader, enjoys writing and performing community service, and is actively involved in various financial aid and higher education professional organizations.
Publication Date: 1/2/2025