<p>Cpt, as I think you have pointed out, people with low ability to pay will have to live at home. Even with the increase, the tuition at Kutztown State will be 7685 annually. Hopefully the kid will get something of a pell grant, or some very limited family help and will have federal loans for the rest.</p>
<p>I agree that they will be living at home. But that $1800 increase is a lot for those who have low EFCs. It may not be a huge amount on a $40K tuition bill, but for someone scraping to pay $5500, that additional amount is a devastating development.</p>
<p>$7,700 is $2,200 more than even a max Pell Grant. We’re talking about a seven-fold increase in the out-of-pocket tuition costs for a zero-EFC student. Anyone who doesn’t see that as extremely significant hasn’t ever been that poor.</p>
<p>Polar, I could be wrong, but I think anyone qualifying for a max Pell Grant would be able to make up the diff with a subsidized Stafford loan. I am not trying to minimize the pain, but I think “tuition up 30%” paints a different picture than tuition to be set at 7,600. Yes, it will be a problem to some (particulary kids whose families are too well off for Pell, can not get help from Family and can not find summer jobs), but I think the headline/srticle overstate the sitch.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania is a big state and to a large degree rural; not everyone lives within commuting distance. (And for those that do, we have rising gas prices.)</p>
<p>When my dad was going to a Cal State school in the 1970s, he paid $50 per semester in registration fees. That’s it.</p>
<p>We have gone so far backwards in this country when it comes to college affordability, it’s not even funny. But we have billions and trillions to bail out banks, bomb Afghanistan and pay mercenaries with. God bless the USA.</p>
<p>I do not find the increase overstated. There are those who are not eligible for PELL, but low income nonetheless. They aren’t even going to be able to borrow the entire tuition amount even going into the subsidized loan. It’s a sad state when college is not affordable at all. I am not as sympathetic (though I empathize being in the same situation) with those who are complaining about what it costs to send a kid away to a private school. I see no reason why sleep away college and private education needs to be subsidized. But when it become onerous in cost for someone to commute to his local state school, it is a terrible shame. Those families with EFCs at the $5-8 level are not likely to have several thousand dollars available to pay for a tuition increase, and they are already maxed out on Stafford amounts with the tuition exceeding those limits.</p>
<p>The pressure is starting to work. A number of Republican legislators are saying they are working to reduce the severity of Corbett’s cuts to public colleges. However, even with a smaller cut, there will still be much pain.</p>