College is attainable but not affordable, most adults say

Most Americans believe people who want to go to college can get in somewhere — they just don’t think they’d be able to afford it, according toa new Gallup-Lumina Foundation poll. While 61 percent of adults believeeducation beyond high school is available to anyone who needs it, only 21 percent agree that it’s affordable, according to therecent poll results.

Some racial groups were much more optimistic than others. Fifty-onepercent of Hispanic adults saidhigher education is still affordable, Gallup found. Just 19 percent of black adults and 17 percent of white adults agreed.

Tuition at public colleges has risen more than 250 percent over the last 30 years. At the same time, financial aid hasn’t keptup.Students have beenleaving schoolwith record amounts of debt: In a separate study, Gallup and Purdue University found more than a third of students who graduated college from2000 to2014 were saddled with more than $25,000 in loans.