Hard News Story

Tuition on the Rise

College tuition has been on the rise since the end of World War II, and the current economic downturn has forced students to take a fresh look at which colleges are affordable for their situations. As college enrollment grows, colleges have been looking for ways to maintain a high quality of teaching; in many cases this has come in the form of higher tuition. Application fees have also gone up, sparking a change in the number of applications many students fill out.
In turn, this has lead to a shift in where students have been applying. Application fees for schools such as Harvard and Stanford have reached the $90 level, while each University of California school charges $70. Along with expensive applications, prices for other college preparatory practices have gone up. The SAT, one of the most popular and widely used college aptitude tests in the US, increased its price in 2005 from $29.50 to $41.50. Add to this the prices to send scores to colleges, and the average student pays about $800 to simply apply for college.
Colleges now see increased prices as the only way to stay afloat in these hard economic times. Providing adequate research, room and board, and top-notch teaching is more expensive now than ever before. Along with increasing their fees and tuition, they have begun looking at a variety of students. Many public schools are now accepting more out-of-state students, who are subject to a higher tuition rate. This not only changes the demographics of the school, but it also gives out-of-state students an advantage in the application process. Schools that might have been more competitive for them have now become a bit easier.
Although out-of-state schools might be less competitive, they are still more expensive for the majority of students. This has lead to a change into the demographics of many schools. Mark Wanous, a counselor for Eastview High School, has seen this shift in interest. He finds that more students are staying in-state and taking advantage of reciprocity between schools and areas, while more are also choosing public over private schools. The most common public schools currently are the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and Duluth, the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire and Madison, and the University of North Dakota. In the list of private schools, St. Thomas University is the most common because of its strong business program and relatively low price (compared to other private schools in the area).
Interestingly enough, many students have not taken high application prices into account when deciding where to apply, however they know that tuition prices will be an important factor in deciding where they actually attend college. Seniors Sarah Malaske and Matt Gantz both found it easier to apply to the schools where they wanted to go, and worry about the tuition fees after being accepted. They found that many colleges have been offering new ways to afford their higher fees, such as special work study programs and student loan programs. Scholarships have also played a large role in determining how much a family can afford.
Students today are taking advantage of these programs and are finding new ways to attend the colleges of their dreams, even if they are expensive. As Malaske points out, “getting a degree from a [well known expensive school] with name recognition goes a long way, especially in this tough economy.” Counselor Wanous foresees a further increase of about 5%-10% in yearly tuition as colleges try to accommodate the economic situation. Nevertheless, he does not believe that this will deter many from entering college because education will always be something required to get ahead in many fields.