Education Costs

By Katherine Chow

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

The latest annual figures from the College Board, out Wednesday, show that 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.

At private colleges, enrolling 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 by $780. Including room and board, but factoring in aid, the typical student at a private college is paying $23,840 per year.

Graduate student Navid Shaghaghi attended University of California, Berkeley for his undergraduate studies, before attending Santa Clara.

"The difference is the graduate student can only get loans so there's a lot of loans to pay back," he said.
At public two-year colleges, tuition and fees increased $172 to $2,959. On average, those costs are entirely covered by aid. Drawing on his experience from UC Berkeley, Shaghaghi said, "For public schools, there are more opportunities for scholarships."

Altogether, the latest figures send mixed signals. They highlight that higher education, although economically essential, is devouring an ever-increasing share of family incomes, which are lower than a decade ago. But the numbers could also signal an inflection point where several unsustainable trends in costs, borrowing, and student aid at last begin to break, though it's too soon to say for sure, said report co-author Sandy Baum of the College Board and George Washington University.

Prices were up this year, though at barely half the rate of the previous two years. Enrollment, after surging nationally for several years after the economy collapsed in 2008, has leveled off. Partly as a result, federal aid is also now declining slightly after several years of double-digit increases.
Even student borrowing, the source of much anxiety, declined last year by about 4 percent. Borrowing remained 24 percent higher than five years earlier, but the annual decline was the first in at least two decades.

Explanations could include debt aversion, more parents employed, or simply a decline in enrollment overall, particularly at for-profit colleges, where students typically borrow more than at other types of school. "Even though we do get loans from the government, there are a lot of private loans, but those have higher interest rates," said Shaghaghi, referring to private schools.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, at least 123 colleges charge more than $50,000 per year in combined tuition, fees, room and board.

"The tuition hike really impacts the more well-off students, but for students who can't really afford the tuition, financial aid covers most of it, which is nice," said junior Suni Hamilton.

AP contributed to this story. Contact Katherine Chow at klchow@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4948.