Thursday, January 15, 2009 2:21 PM CST
Families await sharpest tuition increases in years
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer
Most high school seniors and their families have not made final college plans for next fall. But they know this: It’s probably going to cost more than they had planned.
Even in good economic times, states and colleges have largely failed to hold tuition increases in line with inflation. Now as the slumping economy forces states to slash spending, students can expect the sharpest increases in years.
Families are calling on colleges to absorb as much of the burden as possible instead of passing the extra costs on to students.
“In my business, my customers are asking me for price concessions,” said John Schock of Raleigh, N.C., who works in sales for a company in the automotive industry and whose son is looking at colleges. He said colleges “have an obligation as well.”
Final prices will not be set until state budgets are finished in the coming months, but the trend is clear. In California, the governor’s proposed budget would raise university fees around 10 percent. Florida’s governor is trying to give several state schools more power to raise prices. And universities in both states plan to cut enrollment slots.
Other states could not wait until fall and have passed unusual midyear increases, including a whopping 14-percent increase in New York.
In previous recessions, state-supported institutions have raised tuition between 8 and 10 percent annually for several years running, said Nick Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
“This recession is worse. This state fiscal crisis is worse than last time, so we would expect state tuition increases to be larger than in past years,” Johnson said.
Students could see some relief at private universities, which may have less room to raise prices without losing business or looking greedy. Augustana and Princeton are among schools that have already announced their lowest tuition increases in at least 25 years. Merrimack College and Benedictine University have announced freezes for next year.
But four in five American college students attend public schools.
Many colleges are making budget cuts, but that’s hardly good news for students. It means larger classes and, in states like California, fewer admission slots in the state system.
Jim Boyle, president of the membership and advocacy group College Parents of America, said next year will be especially painful because so many families have lost college savings in the stock market, or can no longer tap home equity loans because of the real estate crash.
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