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College Tuition and Fees Rise, but so Does Student Aid
Daily Press via Yellowbrix
October 22, 2009
The College Board offered a classic mix of good news and bad news in its latest look at trends in tuition and student aid released Tuesday.
Both rose, meaning colleges are charging more, but students also are receiving more assistance to offset higher prices.
The increasing grant aid, from the federal government and the colleges and universities themselves, has kept the tuition and fees students are paying about the same, said board senior analyst Sandra Baum.
Nationwide, tuition and mandatory fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose an average of 6.5 percent over the previous year, with the median cost of tuition and fees at $8,700.
The percentage increase for two-year colleges was higher at 7.3 percent, but Baum cautioned that California, which has 17 percent of all community college students in the U.S., had the highest-percentage increase, which bumped the nationwide average.
Private four-year and graduate-degree-granting schools posted the smallest increases, with an average of 4.4 percent over last year.
The College Board — a nonprofit association of more than 5,400 schools, colleges, universities and education organizations — publishes the college costs and student financial assistance reports annually as planning tools for parents and students.
