Report: College Prices Up Again

Student Borrowing Also Rises But Increases In Financial Aid Aren't Keeping Up

(AP)  The price of college again rose faster than the inflation rate this year, climbing 6.6 percent at four-year public schools and outstripping increases in the financial aid that lowers what most students actually pay.

The latest increases, reported Monday by the College Board, bring the average list price of four-year public universities to $6,185 this year, up $381 from 2006-2007. At four-year private colleges, tuition and fees rose 6.3 percent to $23,712.

Public two-year colleges, which educate about half of American college students, again got the best marks for keeping a lid on price increases. Their average price rose 4.2 percent to $2,361. Accounting for aid, their average net cost is only $320 per year.

"For too long, parents have grimaced and borne the high price of college because they presumed that a higher education is key to their child's success in today's economy," said James Boyle, president of the group College Parents of America, in a statement on the report. "Surely, the day will come, soon, when parents say enough is enough."

The published price is not the real price for many students, thanks to financial aid, but the net price is rising too. On average, accounting for grants and tax breaks, the net price for full-time students at four-year public universities this year is $2,580. That's about $160 more than last year.

At private colleges, net cost this year averages $14,400, up $638 from a year ago.

To make up the difference, students typically borrow as much as allowed from the federal government, but then turn to private student loans. A decade ago, nonfederal loans accounted for about 6 percent of student aid, but last year they were 24 percent.

The rate of growth in private borrowing slowed last year. But that was at least partly because of new rules allowing graduates students to take out PLUS loans from the federal government, reducing their need for private loans. For undergraduates, private borrowing still rose 12 percent to $14.5 billion.

Including room and board for students living on campus, charges for public four-year colleges were $13,589, or 5.9 percent higher than last year. At private four-year schools, average total charges come to $32,307.

George Washington University in Washington, D.C. recently attracted attention for becoming the first major university with a published price, including room and board, of more than $50,000.

However, the percentage of college-goers who pay such large sums is fairly small. Fewer than 10 percent of students even attend colleges with tuition and fees higher than $30,000, according to the College Board, and many of those students receive financial aid. About 56 percent of students at four-year colleges attend schools listing a price under $10,000, and about one-third attend schools charging under $6,000.

The College Board's report does not try to explain why prices keep going up, though Sandy Baum, an economist with the group and at Skidmore College, points out that because of rising demand for higher education, more state appropriations have not translated into more money spent on each student.

The report comes as Congress is in the early stages of considering a proposal that could require some colleges with large endowments to spend more of their savings to keep tuition down. Colleges call the idea misguided and say it wouldn't solve the underlying economic issues explaining the price increases.

For the first time, the College Board report includes the rapidly growing sector of for-profit education, which now caters to about 8 percent of students. Their average prices are also rising rapidly, to $12,089, up 6.2 percent from last year.

Peter McPherson, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, issued a statement saying that "leaders of America's public research universities continue to be concerned about the impact that the cost of attending colleges has on students and their families." But, he said, the average net price of $2,600 at four-year schools remains "excellent value."

That contention is supported in a recent paper by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the financial aid Web site finaid.org. He tried to estimate how much a four-year college degree would have to cost before it would no longer be a good investment, given the $1.2 million increase in expected lifetime earnings that comes with a bachelor's degree. His answer: about $520,000, or $130,000 a year.

[undermyboot]

College education is a scam. Better to stop at that High School edumucation because there''s nothing else to learn that you can''t learn on "dancing wit da stars." Literature, science, mathematics, and critical thought are all scams of the liberal elite. We don''t need those when all the math we need is to know the channel for Fox News, and we don''t need critical thought when Rush tells us everything that is worth knowing. Let''s tear down our educational system. We got a good start on K-12. Time to start shredding the "great" universities of our land. Our leaders can tell us what is important, what to do, what to think, and can convince us that McD''s jobs are the BEST!

ROFLMAO Read Ayn Rand you morons.

[dowjones20k]

College tuition is up because the Admin & professors in colleges have duped the American public into believing that a college degree is mandatory for success ... all the while these professors are on sabaticals, writing books, and selling the books back to universities .. collecting 6 figure salaries and royalties from those same books. student teachers now handle the labs, classes.

College is now a rip off ... kids get schooled on drinking, sleeping, partying, and cheating .. and the classes/majors are a joke ...

Pitiful !!!

[gkc99]

Is there any more corrupt, price-fixed institution in the US than the university racket? Other than Major League Baseball, I mean.

[usayesterday]

What too many people/parents don''t realize is that sending your child to a Junior College for the first two years and then transferring to a four-year college is MUCH cheaper and you get the same degree when you finish the four-year college!

In fact, it is easier to transfer into the four-year college of choice because they tend to look at Junior College transfers more favorably (especially if the grades are excellent) than someone straight from High School.

So why don''t many parents force their children to do this? Are that many American parents so economically illiterate that obvious cost savings of massive proportions are just too complicated to fathom? Or are people still stuck on that idiotic stigma that Junior Colleges are for "losers" who couldn''t get into a real college first?

Oh well, I guess if middle-American parents don''t want to take the cheaper 2-year JC route first, then they shouldn''t be complaining about rising college costs. Because if they''re willing to pay it, why biitchh about it!

[mh4cbs1]

SaveTheUS2:

I absolutely agree with and admire Ron Paul for his stand against the LIES, War Profiteering and Empire Building of the Republicrats.

But, Ron Paul has a major flaw on domestic policy. His view is that you can just let corporations run reckless in our society. WRONG. Corporations have too much power. They own our politicians. They MUST be controlled AND regulated as the only way to keep their emormous power in check.

Return CITIZENS to power. Let CITIZENS rule. Let CITIZENS control Corporate power through a government of the People. As Ralph Nader says. "Washington D.C. is corporate occupied territory".

VOTE GREEN PARTY for sustainable economy, social justice, and PEACE.

[mh4cbs1]

Of course college tuition is UP. And access to college loans are DOWN.

Where to you think the nation''s corporate rulers get their War cannon fodder?? From middle class kids who "volunteer" in order to get money for college tuition.

Nice little corporate-war-machine racket.

The filthy rich get huge tax cuts and war profits. The middle class get higher tuition and the opportunity to die in the NeoCon Nightmare.

[olebd]

What a scam. And what justifies such a increase every year? My theory is because we''re told more and more that college is such a necessity and because we pay whatever tuition number they throw at us. Much like parents do upon the birth of a child or when we pay out the nose for a wedding ceremony or when we pay for a funeral.

All are scams for the most part that take advantage of us.

[savetheus2]

Why Don''''t You Know Ron Paul??????

The corporate media will not give Ron Paul any Exposure. Because, NBC is owned by GE. GE is one of the world''''s largest war-makers. They make things that go boom. They make $Billions on war. A Ron Paul administration would be bad for business. CNN is owned by AOL. Majority share holder is Saudi Royal Talal who is also partners with GHWBush in The Carlyle Group. Another major warmaker. And on and on. You get the picture. This is why they are doing a Media Blackout on him. Because they don''''t WANT YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH!!!

Who is Ron Paul?
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/about

Ron Paul Has WON 10 Straw-Polls!

Who Owns The Media: http://www.mediaowners.com

RESTORE YOUR LIBERTY & FREEDOM
SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT RON PAUL 2008!

Ron Paul Will:

** Stop Iraq War Immediately
** Eliminate IRS
** Eliminate Federal Reserve
** Eliminate Government Wasteful Spending
** Restore America''''s Work Force & Values
** Restore America''''s Freedom!

GET UP AND GET ACTIVE TODAY!!!
Ron Paul Is America''''s Last Hope!

Join The ReVoLuTiOn In Your City Stand Up America:
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We have Domestic Terrorists It Is Called The Bush Administration And All Of His "Secretive Signed Statements" Either Stand Up Now or Go To Sams Club And Keep Buying Cases of Vasiline So When You Put Hillary In Office! WAKE UP AMERICA!