by Josh Harrell
Technician (North Carolina State U.)
(U-WIRE) RALEIGH, N.C. - A recent College Board Annual Survey of Colleges has found the average tuition for a four-year public school has risen 10 percent in the last year.
The survey, given every year by the College Board, also found that tuition at two-year public colleges rose 9 percent and four-year private school prices increased 6 percent.
Students at North Carolina State University are doing everything they can to reduce the increase.
"The Student Senate just passed a bill to oppose any tuition increases, period," Vice Chair of the Tuition and Fees Committee Nicole White said. "We are still trying to find ways to keep tuition low and not allow any more increase."
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But these attempts may be short-lived, as tuition on campus has continued to rise year by year since 1990 when tuition was only $604. A 7 percent increase occurred this past year as between the 2003-2004 year and this year tuition has increased from $2,995 to $3,205,and maybe raised another $300 next year.
Sandy Baum, a College Board senior policy analyst and co-author of the report, said the survey is representative of 2,800 schools across the country. The study also found that all forms of student aid are growing to adjust to this increase, but that students are now relying more heavily on private loans.
"This is because the federal loan limit has not increased for a decade," Baum said. "So students are not getting enough through federal programs and have to turn to alternative sources of borrowing."
Borrowing from private loans has become more popular as well, as overall aid has decreased.
"There is a lot of credit available, and interest rates are low, so it makes sense to borrow," Baum said. "What students and families cannot get from the federal government they get from other sources."
In recent years, changes in the distribution of state and institutional grant aid have favored middle- and upper-class students.
"Most grants are still allocated on need, but there does seem to be a diminishing focus on students from the lower class," Baum said. "But I think it is misleading to say that grant aid is not going to them, when it is really going to students who really need it."
But the study does show that the difference of benefits received by college graduates compared to high school graduates has increased.
"Students who attend college obtain a wide range of personal, financial and other lifelong benefits," College Board president Gaston Caperton said in the report. "Uneven rates of participation in higher education should be a matter of urgent interest not only to the individuals affected, but also as a public policy issue at the federal, state and local levels."
This section of the study also found that college graduates display higher levels of civic participation than others, and that their children attain higher levels of education. Also it found that the after graduation earnings of the average college graduate is high enough for graduates to recover both the cost of full tuition and fees plus forgone earnings while in college in a relatively short period of time.
