<p>Not a big surprise, but still scary for families with modest means:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.
Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.
<p>*the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, *</p>
<p>More proof that “going away to school” is a luxury. Many families can find a way to come up with $8k plus books for their child to go to a nearby state school…a student loan, a summer job, part-time job during the year, and a few bucks from the parents would cover that. Going away to school is not a given.</p>
<p>Funny how when WE went away to school, there didn’t seem to be the pressure these kids–including my own–have nowadays. As an undergrad, all I had to worry about was getting decent grades and avoid getting run over by a bus. Certainly the higher cost percentage of parents’ income, either as you go or with PLUS loans, have something to do with it. This along with the fact that to secure a decent gig after graduation, you need either grad school or a hook, meaning concurrent work experience or a second major/degree.</p>
<p>When I went to college in the mid 70s, most people did NOT go away to school. Most commuted to their local state school. Only the children of the more affluent went away…children of doctors, lawyers, successful business owners, executives, etc. </p>
<p>Even tho state tuition was low, most families could not pay (or justify) the cost of room and board for their children to go away. Families were often larger back then, with single incomes, and often had little or nothing to contribute from income or college savings.</p>
<p>I feel bad for the kids who live in the District of Columbia though. How many commuting options do they have for a four year degree? (Do they even have a “state” university?)</p>
<p>(As far as “room and board” goes – what a waste of money. When my D moved off campus to an apartment, she shaved just under $3000 off of her living expenses. The only real advantage she had to give up was that she had to cook for herself. In exchange, more space, more privacy, and roughly the same distance from classes as the farflung dorms.)</p>
<p>As long as the federal government continues to inflate tuition with meritless grants and guaranteed student loans, there is literally no incentive for a school to lower its prices, ever. Want lower tuition? Get the federal government out and allow a free market. You’ll see prices go down, like in other industries (such as electronics and elective surgeries) where the federal government doesn’t interfere.</p>
<p>More meaningless data. It matters not what the national average is for in-state tuition. I could care less what it costs a resident of California, or New York, or South Dakota to go in state. (And I can only wish that I could send my kids in-state for $17K where I live.)</p>
<p>Cost per year at 30 credits at my public U: just under $13500. Just for tuition. Total COA around $24000. It’s really, really ridiculous. At least in California, New York, etc there are some programs to help with university tuition/fees if you’re a strong student with low family income. Here in Michigan, where our tuition is ridiculously high already, there is absolutely NO help to Michiganders. It’s quite sad actually.</p>
<p>ETA: Sorry, there is the Michigan Competitive Scholarship which provides a different amount each year and doesn’t even cover the cost of 1 credit.</p>
<p>I believe that DC students get in state tuition in other states. As for commuting options, University of Maryland and George Mason U are both within commuting distance of DC.</p>
<p>I am surprised that more people do not go the cc route. Our local cc - Northern Va Comm College (NOVA) charges $135 per credit hour which comes out to less than $4500 per year for 32 credit hours. A student living at home and working could pay for that and then transfer. I have seen people argue here that it is less expensive to “go away” if a child gets a lot of merit aid and while that is true in some cases, it seems that unless that merit aid were pretty substantial the cc and transfer option would be cheaper.</p>
<p>Most state universities are strapped as well and having to cut faculty. So they are dumping a lot of the burden on student loans and less on grants and scholarships. If you are middle class you are SOL. You pay full fare. </p>
<p>Its sort of scary if you look at the trajectory of where we are all headed…</p>
<p>Yup middle class get the big short end of the stick. Especially if your middle class recently and have no saved anything. They expect contributions around $20k a year. Basically full fare. sigh</p>
<p>That why so many people scour CC and look for ways to get partial aid based on merit alone. Which is also drying up.</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo - Public LAC in NY considered by many to be the “honors college”. Always in the top 10 list of “best buy” public colleges and top two colleges for out of state students. </p>
<p>Not sure how it works in other states, but here in NY there are many areas that aren’t within commuting distance of any 4 year public and many of the SUNYs aren’t in areas that have public transportation. They don’t have a universal list of majors so SUNY students choose between a handful of schools for all but the most common majors and there are a number of majors that are only offered in one location. It has been this way since I was in high school and that was several decades ago.</p>
<p>I <3 SUNY’s! It’s something like $6,000 a year in-state, but most kids get merit and get it reduced to just a couple thousand a year. I am only applying to one SUNY, but it has given such a great opportunity to many of my friends to go to really good schools without the hefty price tag. Even for OOS I don’t believe it costs very much compared to most schools. I highly suggest people from OOS look at SUNYs because there are some absolutely excellent schools here.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what do you guys consider “within commuting distance?” An hour? I have to do it for community college, and it’s not fun. Still, I guess it’s worth not having to pay 10 grand a year…</p>
<p>@sk8r- I didn’t think about that. There is no public transportation in my area. You couldn’t even get to the local CC unless you had a car. Luckily, there are some good universities around me. However, once you get into the northern part of the state, there are very few state universities within driving distance. They all tend to be bundled around lower Michigan.</p>
<p>Artsy, I’d consider an hour to be the absolute top for a young driver in a snowbelt state, but it really depends on traffic and driving conditions. Where I live, road conditions get pretty dicey and the cost of driving a 4WD vehicle (often a necessity just to get out of the driveway in winter) can put a pretty big dent in the $10K “savings”.</p>