Students are paying 12 percent more this year than they did last year for tuition at four-year public colleges and universities, the first double-digit increase in eight years, according to the College Board’s annual survey of college tuitions.
Since the 1983-84 academic year, when tuitions at four-year public schools increased by an average of 12 percent over the previous year, tuition boosts have ranged from 4 percent to 9 percent, the survey said.
At four-year private schools, meanwhile, tuition increased by 7 percent from a year ago, according to the survey.
Annual tuition this year averages $2,137 for four-year public schools and $10,017 for four-year private schools, according to the survey, which was released last week.
The findings reflect responses from 78 percent of the nation’s 3,500 institutions of higher education.
Donald Stewart, president of the College Board, attributed the dramatic increase in tuition at public colleges and universities to the budget constraints now affecting most states.
“The current recession has had an impact on all sectors of education, public and private,” he said. “Although we haven’t seen double-digit increases for public institutions since 1983, many people expected them this year because of the widely publicized cuts in state budgets.”
The College Board survey also found that tuition at two-year public schools increased by 13 percent to an average of $1,022 this year and that tuition at two-year private schools rose by 6 percent to an average of $5,290.
Estimated total expenses, including tuition and fees, books and sup
- plies, room and board, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses, the survey said, amount to:
- $4,913 for commuters attending two-year public schools.
- $9,006 for commuters attending two-year private schools, and about $1,900 more for students living on campus.
- $6,036 for commuters attending four-year public schools, and $7,584 for students living on campus.
- $13,983 for commuters attending four-year private schools, and $16,292 for students living on campus.
