JFF CEO Maria Flynn recently published an opinion on the Hechinger Report in which she argued that in addition to taking steps to try to make college more affordable for more people — such as a bill before Congress that would double the size of Pell Grants — “We must also work to address the opportunity costs of attending college.”

“The true price of higher education runs much deeper than tuition,” she writes. “It’s the time students take off work, the difficult balancing act of raising a family while enrolled and the many other sacrifices learners make to stay on the path to a degree. It’s also the risk inherent in making such a great investment, with millions of Americans struggling with college debt despite never having earned a degree.”