A recent report by an independent research institute says that college is unaffordable in every state except California-and higher education costs everywhere are on track to escalate as the nationwide recession sets in.

California barely passed in terms of keeping higher education affordable, earning a C-minus on the biennial report released yesterday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Every other state received an F in the report, which also assessed 2006-07 data on college completion and preparation for higher education, among other categories.

The reason California passed is that its community colleges are affordable in comparison with those elsewhere in the country, said Stacey Zis, a research associate at the center. Meanwhile, tuition at the UC system has more than doubled since 2001 and many students fear the UC Board of Regents will continue to raise it.

"Forty-nine states have an F, and even in California, progress is going down," Zis said. "Even the community colleges are more expensive than they used to be."

Though they both received F's, Tennessee and New York were the only states that improved in affordability from 1997 to 2007, based on percentage of income needed to pay for college expenses.

Higher education costs have grown at a markedly high rate across the nation. Between 1982 and 2006, college tuition fees jumped 439 percent while the median family income rose 147 percent, according to the report.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed to slash $65.5 million from the University of California's budget, on top of a previous $33 million cut and a $48 million funding gap from the state. The governor declared a state of fiscal emergency on Monday.

While the university has raised fees to compensate for inadequate state funding in the past, Zis said tuition hikes are not long-term solutions.

"We know that either tuition and fees have to come down or financial aid has to go up to make any kind of difference," she said. "If tuition and fees go up and financial aid comes down, it becomes more expensive."

UC spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez said he was pleased with the state's passing grade, adding that the university is focused on providing need-based financial aid.

But Student Regent D'Artagnan Scorza said the study confirmed his fears that the university is increasingly inaccessible.

"This in some ways reaffirms what I know to be the case-that higher education is becoming unaffordable for many families," he said.

He said the report's conclusion, which found that more high-income families received grant aid than low-income families, was troubling.

Though California led the nation in affordability, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi worries that fee increase advocates will misconstrue the report's findings.

"You can take any fact and use it to mislead, and I don't doubt for a moment that there will be those who will use this to mislead ... that an additional fee increase is not a problem," he said.

By only making community colleges affordable, state legislators imply that higher education does not need to go beyond a two-year degree, said ASUC External Affairs Vice President Dionne Jirachaikitti.

"I remember that the community college system is meant to be a system that transfer students can use to get to a four-year," she said. "Even after those two years, where are students meant to go?"

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