College tuition soars, but aid grows along with it, students are paying up to 9% more to attend school. It is said that the lifetime earnings of a college graduate is at 1 million more than the overall earnings of someone with only a high school diploma. So in the end something good is coming out of spending the money to graduate from college. How are the students affected and how may it affect schools, why is tuition increasing, and what are the colleges doing with the revenues they receive.
Students are affected by this increase because they are forced to take out larger loans, work full time or may even have to take fewer classes. They face opportunity costs because they are willing to sacrifice working for school hoping that school will help them more in the end. This increase not only affects the student, but the parents as well, that means that taxpayers are subsidizing a smaller share of the cost of their state universities, while students and their parents are paying an even larger slice. State funding now accounts for about 36% of revenues at public colleges, down from 45% in 1980, while tuition accounts for 19% of state university revenue, up from 13% twenty years ago.
Tuition, room and board, plus the cost of books transportation and other expenses have all increased. States have been warned for months of big tuition increases because falling state revenues have forced them to cut the subsidies they provide their public universities. Colleges both public and private attribute rising tuition because of increase in faculty salaries and rising technology also construction costs. Students want better computer labs, high speed internet connections, lavish dormitories, and high tech fitness centers somebody has to pay for these accommodations after all there is “no free lunch”.
Tuition at public colleges just took its biggest jump in a quarter century. Tuition at four-year public colleges and universities is up to 9.6% from a year ago, or about seven times the rate of inflation. Private college tuition increased by 5.8% and tuition at community colleges where laid off workers go for retraining during a weak economy. Increased by 7.9%. Private college tuition rose to an average $18,273 but combined with living costs, books and transportation, that comes to a total of 27, 677 a year, community colleges remained the higher education bargain at 1,735 but when other costs are added, even they total $10, 458.
College tuition soars, but aid grows along with it students are paying up to 9% more to attend school. Prices may be going up for tuition, but it seems like its for a good cause when the money is used to improve campus living and student well being. Students and parents may be paying an extra 7-9%, but financial aid has also increased to those who really need financial assistance. The price jumps for four year public colleges was an increase of 9.6%, four year private college 5.8%, and community college 7.9% these increases could be accredited to the increase of staff. Hopefully when the students graduate, they will make all the money back they spent, and plus more.
