Ann's Blog On College Prices

Ann's Blog #8















"Average College Cost Breaks $30,000" (cnn.com, October 26, 2006)

Every year the cost of tuition for 4-year colleges increases, and this year was no different. Of course private and public schools make a difference, but there is no question that the the price of an education is getting more and more costly. The average cost to attend a private school has just tiptoed over the $30,000 mark. This amount comes from the necessities of a college education; a combination of school tuition costs and room and board. For the average college student wishing to attend a private school, the cost of tuition is $22,218 and then with the addition of $8,149 for room and board it is $30,367. A public school's average tuition cost is around $5,836 with an additional $6,960 for room and board. Even though the prices are continually increasing, the rate at which the tuition costs for public colleges has decreased slightly. This year the rate of increase is at 6.3% whereas last year there was an increase of 7.1%. While there is all this increasing of prices there is also an increase of financial help for these students. The article stated that the amount of student aid has increased by 3.7%. This goes hand and hand with the fact that almost 2/3 of college students get help financially on the prices of tuition. This financial help has a huge effect on the actual amount of money that these individual students have to pay. A student who has enrolled into an average private school will pay, after grants, an average of $13,200. This is considerably lower than the $22,218 that would be paid without help. This financial help comes in both loans and grants. Grants make up 44% of the total amount of money funded to students while loans make up 51% of that money. The reason that the price keeps increasing on tuition costs is because the government is not able to provide the money that would allow the colleges to make profit, so they have to factor that into the tuition costs for the students.

The majority of the article makes it seem like the costs of tuition in this day and age is unreasonable to some extent (although the article is not at all opinionated - the facts alone lead the reader to this conclusion). The last segment of the article changes my mind completely. It states the fact that although the cost of getting a 4-year college degree is very high, the average amount that is made after receiving this education (as opposed to a high school diploma alone) is 70% higher for women and 63% higher for men. Those are some pretty high percentages. I would choose to pay the costs of receiving a college education over trying to skip it, hands down. Then again, that has been my goal all along. Even if I look at the decision through the eyes of someone who hasn't always seen college as their future destiny, I still think it seems like an easy choice. When I began to get started on my bloggin tonight, I ran across the title of this article and immediately I knew that I wanted to do my blog on it. With junior year flying by, my college decisions are looming over my head, so my interest level in college information is at an all time high. Even while doing some of my prior blogs I have taken the time to read other college-related articles. But this article especially peaked my interest because at this point I haven't put a single thought into the price of college. Thus far, my only concerns involving college have been grades and the thought of choosing a college. I must be some spoiled brat if I am a junior in high school and I have not yet thought about how much college is going to cost! (hopefully not!) So being that I had not thought about it, I had no idea how much the actual amount was going to cost. I had an idea roughly, but my estimate was very broad. Reading this article really opened my eyes. An education is quite a sum of money. Then I got to thinking that I have spent six hours a day, five days a week for eleven years just getting myself ready for this next level of education that will allow me to have a job that I will enjoy and prosper in. Suddenly that sum of money does not seem so big. Now that I have in mind the cost of my college tuition, the article on statefarm.com helps me to visualize the amount of money that I will be spending on my children 30-40 years from now. Now I see that I really need that 70% more income that I will receive after going to a 4-year college. Everything is building on itself and it is clear to me that the amazingly high costs of a college education are well worth it.

Information found:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/24/pf/college/college_costs/index.htm?postversion=2006102410

Additional Information found:

http://www.statefarm.com/mutual/sc/invest_know/costofcollege.asp

Graph found:

http://www.statefarm.com/_images/college_graph.gif