College Hikes
by Susan Garland
In the 1990s, students flocked to state universities and colleges to escape soaring tuition at private institutions. But over the past few years, students at public educational institutions have been suffering from sticker shock as well. Cutbacks in state appropriations, rising costs for staff benefits and salaries, and an increase in college-financed aid to lower-income students are forcing tuition up in state university systems across the country.
During the 2003-04 academic year, the average bill for tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges was $4,694-up 14.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the College Board. Tuition at public two-year colleges, averaging $1,905 in 2003-04, rose by 13.8 percent.
The trend shows no signs of abating in the coming academic year, according to the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. For instance, tuition and fees will rise by 13 percent at the University of Arizona and by 14 percent at the University of California.
A major reason for the tuition rise is a reduction in state appropriations to public colleges. Since 2001, state budgets were forced into deficits as tax revenues dropped and spending on Medicaid beneficiaries and state retirees soared. As a result, state funds for higher education fell to $7 for every $1,000 in personal income in 2003, from $8.50 in the late 1970s, according to the Brookings Institution.
At the University of Illinois, state support has dropped by 18 percent since 2002, according to W. Randall Kangas, assistant vice president for planning. Meanwhile, tuition has gone up by a yearly average of 6.5 percent.
"The state has decided that students and their families should pick up a bigger share of the costs," says Kangas. As tuition has risen, institutions have set aside more money for need-based financial aid. The University of Illinois, for example, is now setting aside $20 million a year for need-based financial aid, up from $1 million five years ago.
Meanwhile, public colleges are being forced to pay more for staff salaries and benefits, according to Travis Reindl of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "There's a fierce competition with private universities for faculty," says Reindl. "A public university that wants to build its reputation for certain kinds of research needs a significant amount of money to attract the most sought-after faculty."
Public colleges also are victims of their own popularity. More enrollments may mean additional tuition revenue per student, but those revenues have not kept pace with the need for additional services for a growing student body–everything from more classroom space to updated computer systems.
"When enrollment starts surging, it begins to outstrip the institution's ability to deliver courses and programs," says J. Noah Brown, vice president of public policy at the Association of Community College Trustees. Such a phenomenon particularly hurts community colleges, he says, because their enrollments rise during bad economic times when people consider new careers or train for new jobs.
Nevertheless, substantial increases in federal and state financial aid are easing the burden of rising tuition costs. A recent analysis by USA Today found that after accounting for new federal tax breaks and increases in state and federal grants, out-of-pocket outlays for tuition at four-year public universities actually dropped by one-third since 1998.
Middle-class families, earning between $40,000 and $100,000 a year, were the biggest beneficiaries of the financial aid. While students at private universities also benefited, paying an average of 57% of the official price of tuition, students at four-year public universities paid an average of only 27% of the official price.
Many retirees can avoid huge tuition costs by engaging in special college-based programs geared to older adults, such as the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. from Massachusetts to Hawaii.
Catherine Sullivan, 68, a retired high school English teacher in Portland, Maine, took classes at the OLLI as part of a special program for seniors at the University of Southern Maine. She took music appreciation and literature classes, for a $25 annual fee and a per-course fee of $50 ($25 for a second course the same semester). Tuition even included books. Sullivan says if her only choice were a $530 three-credit course at the main university, she couldn't do it. "With the books, I couldn't afford it," she says. "I have an older house that always needs stuff done, and that's where my money goes."
Susan Garland is a freelance writer who lives in Bethesda, Maryland.
