College cost increases are modest but painful

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College cost increases are modest but painful

Article by: JUSTIN POPE , A ssociated Press
Updated: October 23, 2012 - 11:01 PM

Tuition and room and board each rose about 5 percent at public universities this fall, continuing a trend.

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Graduate student Pedro Ramirez stands in front of a Proposition 30 sign on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. Proposition 30, which includes a temporary quarter-cent increase in the statewide sales tax and higher income taxes on those who make more than $250,000 a year, faces a well-funded opposition campaign that claims the $6 billion the higher taxes would generate each year would not help schools.

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The price of in-state tuition at four-year public universities climbed about $400 this fall, an increase of nearly 5 percent that brought the average to $8,655. That's a modest increase compared to recent years but still painful for families with stagnant incomes after a prolonged economic slump.

Room-and-board charges grew by a comparable amount, raising the average cost for students living on campus to $17,860.

The latest annual figures from the College Board show only about one-third of full-time students pay that published price. The estimated net price -- what students pay on average after accounting for grants and tax credits -- remains considerably lower than the list price: about $2,910 for tuition at public four-year universities and $12,110 including room and board.

But after several years when a wave of student aid from Washington held net prices mostly in check, real costs for students have now jumped for two consecutive years, as that wave washes back from its high-water mark.

At private colleges, which enroll about one-quarter of four-year college students, list prices remained substantially higher: $39,518 on average, including room and board. During the previous three years, net prices at private colleges had declined. But this year net tuition and fees increased about $780. Including room and board, but factoring in aid, the typical student at a private college is paying $23,840.

At public two-year colleges, tuition and fees increased $172 to $2,959.

Prices at Minnesota colleges rose at about half the national rates.

Tuition and fees at the state's public, four-year universities rose an average of 2 percent, to $10,388.

At Minnesota's public, two-year colleges, the sticker price grew 3 percent, to an average of $5,380.

Although those percentage increases are lower than in past years, Minnesota's public institutions still rank among the most expensive, the report shows. Its public, two-year colleges have the third-highest sticker price in the nation.

The report largely blamed state cuts for rising tuition, highlighting historical data showing tuition jumps most when state support falls.

Staff writer Jenna Ross contributed to this report.