1-800-640-4531 | FAQ's
Left Inverted Commas Thank you for all your help. I’m shocked and thrilled at the excellent award my son received. Your fee was the best money we ever spent!Right Inverted Commas
- Lisa S.

The True Cost of a College Education

By Mitch Gross | November 3, 2009

 

The College Board recently published a report - Trends in College Pricing 2009. Some terrific analyses and valuable insights within. Among other data points, what drew my attention was that the average net tuition and fees have declined consistently since the late 1990s. However, what's kept the perception alive that costs are outpacing other goods and services, is that the increase in living costs have prevented those decreases in net tuition and fees from being reflected in total net costs of attendance. The report states, "average net tuition and fees at both public and private not-for-profit four-year colleges and universities declined from 2004-05 to 2008-09, but increased by about 2% in constant dollars in 2009-10."

 

Report highlights:

  • Published changes do not reflect the prices most students pay. About one-third of full-time students pay without the assistance of grant aid.
  • Avg. estimated 2009-10 net price for full-time students, after considering grant aid and federal tax benefits, is about $1,100 lower (in 2009 dollars) in the private sector and $400 lower in the public sector than it was five years ago.
  • Full-time students at public four-year institutions receive an estimated average of about $5,400 in grant aid from all sources and federal tax benefits, reducing their average net price to about $1,600.
  • About a quarter of full-time four-year college students are enrolled in institutions with published prices of $21,000 per year or higher.
  • The 2009-10 median dollar increase in published tuition and fees for public four-year college students is $406.The median dollar increase for private not-for-profit four-year college students is $1,150.

 

In the first bullet, the report indicates that two-thirds receive need-based and/or merit grants/scholarships. That number is not entirely surprising. What follows is very surprising. The report goes on to state that 4yr public institutions allocated two-thirds of their grant dollars to merit aid, not need-based. Shouldn't the focus be affordability, helping state residents who are in need of financial assistance?