Studies have
been released this week that show that after several years of steep increases
in the cost of attending college and student debt, the real costs of college
and student borrowing have plateaued. The increases in costs for students
between the years 2005 and 2013 became both major economic and public policy
concerns for the United States. Though this news of leveled pricing cannot be
assumed a permanent change, the lower costs provide hope that obtaining a
higher education will not be such a daunting financial burden for
students.
The research
conducted on college costs looked primarily at public colleges and universities
in the United States. The nearly doubling of four-year state school tuition
between 2001 and 2013 was due in part to government cuts to state education aid
and tuition rose to $9,000 for in-state students. Due to political pressure to
stop price increases, many schools like the University of California and the
University of Texas have initiated price freezes and state governments have
made efforts to restore some of the support they withdrew during the recession
in 2008. The government grants and price freezes result in an average published
price increase of only 1 percent after inflation, drastically down from prior
years. On the other hand, actual tuition prices paid by students, after
financial aid and grants, went down during the 2013-2014 decreased from
previous years by 4 percent after inflation and room and board increase by one
1 percent. The average tuition price changes do not apply to private nonprofit
colleges since prices increase yearly, but taking into account inflation, the
average net prices remain relatively steady. Student debt has overall dropped
both in public and private colleges.
No comments:
Post a Comment