As College Fees Climb, Aid Does Too

New York Times ^ | October 28, 2010 | TAMAR LEWIN

[reaganaut1]

As their state financing dwindled, four-year public universities increased their published tuition and fees almost 8 percent this year, to an average of $7,605, according to the College Board’s annual reports. When room and board are included, the average in-state student at a public university now pays $16,140 a year.

At private nonprofit colleges and universities, tuition rose 4.5 percent to an average of $27,293, or $36,993 with room and board.

The good news in the 2010 “Trends in College Pricing” and “Trends in Student Aid” reports is that fast-rising tuition costs have been accompanied by a huge increase in financial aid, which helped keep down the actual amount students and families pay.

“In 2009-2010, students got $28 billion in Pell grants, and that’s $10 billion more than the year before,” said Sandy Baum, the economist who is the lead author of the reports. “When you look at how much students are actually paying, on average, it is lower, after adjusting for inflation, than five years earlier.”

In the last five years, the report said, average published tuition and fees increased by about 24 percent at public four-year colleges and universities, 17 percent at private nonprofit four-year institutions, and 11 percent at public two-year colleges — but in each sector, the net inflation-adjusted price, taking into account both grants and federal tax benefits, decreased over the period.

Almost everybody has been helped by the federal government’s increased spending on education, Ms. Baum said, either through Pell grants, which provide an average of $3,600 for low-income students, or through tax credits, which go further up the income scale.

The increase in federal support this year was so large that unlike former years, government grants surpassed institutional grants.

[PGR88]

The college tuition bubble is exactly the same as the Health-care cost bubble.

The Gov’t is the catylyst for rising prices.

[SeeSac]

“As College Fees Climb, Aid Does Too”

< fix>As coolege aid climbs, fees do also. < /fix>

[sportutegrl]

"As College Fees Climb, Aid Does, Too."

The headline has the cause and effect backwards.

[Reeses]

ex-Texan: what’s your predicition when the college bubble will pop? I think once the recession starts to end many colleges will implode. The future is low-cost internet education with online living certification. The timing is right for a certification website to sweep up marketshare. May the best website win.

[Ro_Thunder]

That’s one thing I never understood. I work at a well-known university, and our ‘normal’ tuition for a year is $38,000. But, they’ve also raised tuition assistance. No family making under $80,000 is allowed to take a loan, and all loans are capped at $10,000 for the ‘academic career’, for all students. Basically, if you get in, and can’t afford it, you could essentially get a ‘free-ride’ scholarship based on need.

Of course, the original charter said that the education was free for all white residents, amended in the 60’s for all students, and then in the 80’s (I think) to start charging the students.