College affordability is the trust test for higher education

John B. King Jr. argues public confidence in higher education will not improve without making college financially attainable—citing rising tuition costs, student stress, and the scale of the need for postsecondary training by 2031. He points to SUNY’s tuition

For many families, paying for college isn’t just a financial decision—it’s the biggest investment they will ever make. And for a growing number of prospective students and parents, that investment now feels out of reach.

That sense of distance is at the heart of a message John B. King Jr. delivers in a first op-ed in a series about what universities are doing to keep college affordable. King, who is the chancellor of the State University of New York and previously served as the 10th U.S. secretary of education under President Barack Obama. says he heard the same worry directly from students when he was in that federal role: families were questioning whether the return on their investment would actually show up.

Over the past two decades, the price tag has climbed sharply. King writes that tuition and fees at private, national universities have increased by 112 percent. For some “elite” and highly selective schools, the annual cost of attendance now approaches $100,000.

The consequences reach beyond cost-of-living calculations. King points to declining public confidence in higher education and connects it to a specific question students keep asking: what happens if college doesn’t deliver on its promise—financially. in the jobs they can realistically access afterward?.

In 2015. King says. the federal government responded by launching the College Scorecard to give families easy access to data on the value of college. The goal was also to fight against predatory for-profit colleges that. in his telling. can leave students with debt and no clear path to a better career.

But skepticism, he argues, has only intensified.

He cites a report from the U.S. Committee on Education and Labor. saying it found that associate degree holders can make up to $400. 000 more than high school graduates over the course of their lives. while bachelor’s degree holders can make up to $1 million more. Even with those outcomes on paper. King says. attending college is no longer a “default” option for many high school graduates.

The human cost is happening alongside the policy debates. Among students who are already in college. he writes. 31 percent have considered dropping out because of costs. and more than half report struggling to pay monthly bills. The problem isn’t confined to young people either: King says 85 percent of adults who either dropped out or never enrolled in higher education cite cost as a major reason.

King frames the urgency as bigger than any single campus. By 2031. he writes. an estimated 72 percent of jobs in the United States will require some form of postsecondary education or training. If college stays financially out of reach. he warns. the country risks leaving “millions of talented people behind” and weakening its ability to compete in a changing economy.

To him, the lesson is direct: trust can’t be rebuilt while affordability sits on the margins.

He describes what he says a different approach can look like at the State University of New York. King writes that a statewide tuition freeze at SUNY’s four-year campuses has helped families plan for tuition without fear of sudden increases. He puts the tuition at $7,070 per year.

But affordability, he says, must go beyond controlling tuition and course materials. When students can’t afford essentials, he writes, education can fall by the wayside. That is where New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s investments come in. including wraparound supports addressing food insecurity and a lack of child care—barriers King says too often block students from making progress.

King also points to SUNY Reconnect, a free community college program that he says covers tuition, fees, books and supplies for adults 25 to 55 years old pursuing associate degrees in high-demand fields.

He links these efforts to outcomes that matter to both students and institutions. At a time when many schools worry about declining enrollment, King writes that SUNY enrollment has grown by 6.5 percent over the past three years.

Similar affordability initiatives, he says, are gaining traction in other states. He names Michigan and Tennessee as offering some form of tuition-free community college program, expanding access for millions of students.

Still, King argues that progress shouldn’t be mistaken for a full solution. Isolated programs across a patchwork of states, he writes, will not be enough.

If higher education wants to rebuild public trust, he says affordability has to become a sustained, systemwide commitment. That means keeping tuition predictable, expanding need-based aid, and addressing basic needs like food, housing, transportation and child care. It also means ensuring that students who start college can finish their degrees. And beyond the costs. King argues the value of college must be made clearer and more transparent so students and families can make decisions with confidence.

In the end, King’s message is aimed at something more fragile than enrollment numbers or institutional messaging. Public trust, he writes, will not be restored by rhetoric alone. It will be rebuilt when students across the country can look at the price of college and see it as reachable—and when they can see that the opportunity it promises is real.

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