State College Costs Unaffordableby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 08 Dec 2008 07:40 AM
How bad are college costs? Increases from 1999-2000 are as high as 16 percent in some cases. If your income falls in the lower median, expect to pay as much as 55 percent of your income just for college tuition, books and other fees not included. The study on college affordability was conducted by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which used a rating from A to F to rank college affordability for a state. California received a grade of "C," while all other states received "F." In my own home state of Pennsylvania the average cost to a family sending a child to college is 41 percent of their income. These jumps have serious repercussions. Even with college savings in place, assuming that in this economy there is room to save, how will young people afford to get a higher education? Of course there is financial aid available, but according to the AP article, those numbers include financial aid. Also mentioned in the article is the practice of financial aid being used increasingly to lure prestigious or high-achieving students who can already afford college. By offering scholarships to this group of students, the colleges get a boost in their numbers and reputation. This leaves students who can ill afford college without the opportunity to attend. Hopefully, our state and federal leaders will help solve this crisis in higher education. What do you think? You can read the AP article by clicking here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28019368/ Related Articles: Community Colleges Gaining in Popularity New Plans to Graduate Kids in 10th Grade America's Best Colleges for 2009 Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevanteducation tags User Comments  ruthann8 (6378) 08 Dec 2008 07:58 AMThe cost of college is the main reason my dh and I may or may not have more children. I would love to have a house full of children. Another major factor is the cost of healthcare. We started a college savings plan for Ellamae. We could put a whole lot more away for her if we didn't have our own student loans to pay for. I am a first generation college graduate and my mom was totally unprepared for me to go to college. And I (mom included) was unknowledgeable about what was out there for help. I hope that we can help Ellamae financially and find her help beyond what we can pay for. Heidi (5269) 08 Dec 2008 08:42 AMUniversity of Arizona was just approved this week for a 10% tuition increase. All three public schools in AZ are now at least $6k/yr for an incoming freshman. Our oldest is 2 and Saturday night I figured out what 10%/yr was until our kids started college. If the Arizona Board of Regents approves 10%/yr until then (which I know is unlikely--most hikes are 5-7%) it'll be just under $24,500/yr our son's freshman year and just under $30k/yr our daughter's freshman year!!!! Thanks to my grandfather both kids have 529 accts and they don't get birthday or Christmas presents from him--just deposits into their 529s. Samual (11722) 08 Dec 2008 02:49 PMOuch here University is £3,145 a year at every university, if you are Scottish and go to Uni in Scotland its free and if you are Welsh and go to Uni in Wales it is £1,600. There is no reason what so ever to have very high prices. wells25 (147) 08 Dec 2008 06:35 PMThe public colleges are run by the government, financial aid is usually through the government. So you borrow money from the government to pay the government, does this make sense. I remember when I went to college back in the early 80's my freshman year was $3,000.00 and that was for tuition and room and board. The books and other things I had to work for during the school year. I don't know what the difference is between now and then, but it must have surely changed a lot.  Mary Ann Romans |
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