College Enrollment Increases For Middle Income Students

College enrollment of middle income students is no longer declining, according to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Numbers of middle-income college students fell between 1967 and 1976, the report states, but since then reversed direction.

A 1976 Census Bureau report caused much Congressional concern over the access of middle-income groups to higher education. Increasing college costs seems to be "squeezing out" these groups, since they could neither afford tuition raises, nor qualify for scholarships.

Now "the middle-income group is in fact sending more children to college," Larry E. Suter, U.S. Census Bureau reporter, said yesterday. "This may affect the Congressional debate," Suter added.

Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.) is sponsoring a tax-cut bill aimed at helping middle-income groups meet the costs of college education. President Carter opposes this bill, advocating instead an expansion of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's (HEW) existing Student Financial Aid Program.

Dan Hoily, research assistant to Moynihan, yesterday criticized the Census Bureau's report, calling its figures "misleading." "We have figures that show the percentage of middle-income students enrolled in college has declined--just not as much as people thought," Holly said.

Holly called Moynihan's position on the tax-cut bill "a matter of equity," based on the needs of middle-income groups. He said Moynihan is "disappointed that the administration sees HEW's Aid Program as an alternative," not an adjunct, to the proposed bill.

At HEW yesterday, Skee Smith, public affairs representative for the Commission on Education, also criticized the Census Bureau's report. Smith said that Ernst Boyer, the Commissioner for Education, thinks "the figures aren't representative of pressure on middle-income groups," but that families "may be sacrificing more," or limiting their choices for a college.