Higher education tuition continues to inflate

Announcements of rising tuition rates have become a rite of passage every spring at colleges and universities across the country.

Tuition at Boston University jumped from $36,540 to $37,910, an increase of $1,370, for the 2009-10 academic year. The change in tuition represented a 3.75 percent increase over the previous academic year.

BU was not alone in raising tuition. Private not-for-profit universities in the U.S. raised their tuition an average of 4.4 percent in constant dollars according to the College Board’s ‘Trends in College Pricing’ report released on October 20.

However, like many other private not-for-profit universities, the increase in BU’s tuition was not as large percentage-wise as increases in previous years. Spokespeople for BU and other private institutions said this trend reflected an effort by schools to limit the strain placed on students and families during the economic recession, while other higher education experts questioned that logic.’

The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents’ more than 1,000 private schools, reported that the average increase of tuition and fees at private colleges for the current academic year was the lowest since 1972-1973.

BU’s tuition increase by percentage was the lowest in 40 years, and BU has been below the national average in tuition increases for private universities for the past ten years, according to BU spokesman Colin Riley.

Riley said BU President Robert Brown and his senior administration recognized that students were exhibiting more financial need, which had an impact on the decision to not raise tuition as much as in past years.

Boston College and Princeton University, two private institutions, also increased tuition and fees by some of the smallest percentages in decades reported the NAICU. BC’s 2.8 percent tuition and fees increase was its lowest in over 30 years. Princeton’s 2.9 percent increase was its smallest in 43 years.

‘Clearly the recession has hit students and families hard,’ Tony Pals, a spokesman for NAICU, said. ‘Private colleges have responded by taking several steps to enhance affordability, including slowing the rate of tuition increases.’

Student advocacy groups do not paint as rosy a picture about tuition increases.

‘It is becoming ever more difficult for families to meet the cost of college,” James Boyle, the President of College Parents of America, a national college parent advocacy group, said.

MORE AID

Local private colleges argued that they made up for tuition increases with increased financial assistance for students.

The average financial aid award amount increased 6.5 percent for BU students, and the percentage of freshman receiving aid rose from 49 to 52 percent, Riley said.

Northeastern University upped its tuition to $34,950, an increase of 4.9 percent over the previous year. The university announced last spring that it would set aside an extra $6 million for financial aid, Anthony Erwin, Northeastern’s senior director of financial aid and scholarships, said.

‘We set aside significantly more money for need-based aid because we knew families would need it,’ Erwin said. ‘This environment has been more challenging than any other dowturn because of the double whammy of job losses and constriction of credit markets.’

Erwin said Northeastern has also created a new institutional-loan program to offer loans to students and famlies that were unable to secure financing from other creditors.

Overall, private colleges and universities increased institutional student aid this academic year by 9 percent, the NAICU reported.

Boyle said he commends some schools for increasing aid, but said rising tuition in the midst of an economic downturn left many families responsible for paying more money than they could afford.

The College Board reported the average amount students paid at private universities after grant aid and federal tax benefits were subtracted from tuition and fees decreased by $1,100 in the past five years when adjusted for inflation.

‘That points to the efforts that colleges have made to increase their affordability, and the steps the federal government has taken in recent years to make college more affordable,’ Pals said.

NO END IN SIGHT

Most experts do not expect tuition increases to slow down further or stop any time soon.

‘There is such demand for postsecondary education that it does not seem likely institutions will have to change their ways,” said Patricia Steele, a College Board education policy analyst. ‘Prices are going to continue to go up.’

The demand for a private education even during the recession was extremely high, and many private schools experienced record enrollments this year, according to the NAICU.

Steele said that some lower-to-middle income students may be priced out from private universities.

Boyle of College Parents of America believes more students will shun private schools for public state universities.

‘It is only natural that students will look at a lower-cost alternative that might be in their backyard,’ Boyle said.

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PUBLICS ALSO RAISING PRICES

The public schools Boyle believes more students will consider have also increased tuition and fees. In fact, tuition prices have been rising at a faster rate at public schools than private schools.

Four-year public colleges in the U.S. raised tuition and fees for the current academic year by an average of 6.5 percent, to $7,020, according to the College Board.

Public schools still remain much cheaper than private schools, but have suffered in recent years because state higher education appropriations have not kept pace as enrollment has grown. In the 2008-2009 academic year, state appropriations decreased by an average of 5 percent, according to the College Board.

The cuts to state higher education have often come as a result of state budget crises across the country, which have intensified since the recession.

‘Almost every single state balanced its budget on the backs of students,’ Jake Stillwell, a spokesman for United States Student Association, said.

Fees at the University of Massachusetts were raised by about $400 this academic year, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education spokeswoman Sarah Mealey said. The increase would have been higher if not for an infusion of federal stimulus money.

‘It is an access and affordability concern that we are shifting costs onto students and families,’ Mealey said.

Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity and Accountability, which focuses on reducing college costs without lowering academic quality, said public schools need to show state legislatures that they are using the money they do get efficiently, or politicians will not commit more funds.

COST CONTAINMENT

Some experts said the only way that tuition increases will ever slowdown is if colleges reduce their operating costs.

Wellman said pension reform would help reduce costs for a number of colleges. Colleges should also reevaluate their curriculums and eliminate courses that have low enrollment.

The encouraging news is more colleges are recognizing they must cut costs, Wellman said.

However, Wellman said, most colleges focus on budget reforms that result in short-term cash rather than taking steps that will have long-term benefits.

Stillwell said he thinks cost containment is an important future goal, but currently students need more federal aid to ensure that students from all income levels can afford college.

Stillwell said the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which has passed the House but is waiting for Senate approval, would help do that by putting $40 billion towards increasing the maximum Pell Grant amount from $5,550 in 2010 to $6,900 by 2019.

The student aid bill has been on hold, as health care has taken center stage in Congress.

‘Student aid investment from the federal government is one of the only ways to combat the rising tuition and fees increases,’ Stillwell said. ‘We need the [student aid act] passed immediately.’