Sticker prices at America's four-year public universities rose 4.8% this year, well below steeper annual increases in recent years, a report out Tuesday
finds. But the rapid growth of federal grant aid in recent years also
appears to be leveling off, and tuition continues to outpace inflation
and growth in family income.
"We would expect that the economy is
changing, family circumstances are changing, something would be
changing in higher education as well," says economist Sandy Baum, author
of the report, released by the College Board Advocacy & Policy
Center
Baum urged families to focus not on sticker prices but on
net prices -- the amount families pay after scholarships and other grant
aid is considered. About two-thirds of students receive some form of
grant aid, which Baum estimates this year at about $5,750.
Using
that estimate, the average net price this year for public universities
is $2,910, up $290 from last year. At private universities, the
average net price this year -- $13,380 -- is lower than the net price in
2008-09. Community college students receive enough aid to cover
average tuition and put $1,220 toward other expenses.
The report
notes declines in some student aid trends. Federal grant aid for
undergraduates, which nearly doubled to $52 billion in 2008-09, fell to
$49 billion in 2011-12, according to the most recent data available.
Total education borrowing, including federal student and parent loans
and private loans, declined by 4% -- the first decline in at least 20
years.
Donald Heller, dean of Michigan State University's College
of Education, says a decline in enrollment could explain some of the
changes. Student borrowing details are based on preliminary data that
often are adjusted, he says, but he adds, "part of what we're seeing is
perhaps some resistance to borrowing."
"All colleges and universities want to keep tuition affordable, and many have
taken
impressive steps to this end," says Molly Corbett Broad, president of
the American Council on Education, a Washington-based umbrella group for
colleges and universities. "Without adequate support from state
governments, we are fighting an uphill battle."
USA Today