Wednesday, October 05, 2005

College Costs Still Rising

I just heard the news that college tuition is still rising, but not quite as quickly as it has in the past couple of years according to a usatoday.com college tuition survey. Here are some of the things it had to say:

Eleven of the schools surveyed increased in-state tuition (including mandatory fees) for first-year, full-time freshmen in 2005-06. That's down from 29 schools last year and 41 in the 2003-04 school year.

This year's 7.1% median increase is smaller than last year's 9.3%, or the previous year's 12.5%. Still, tuition at some schools have increased 70% or more in the past three years; the median increase is 33% since 2002-03.

The largest in-state jump this year was at the University of Colorado, Boulder: nearly 24%, from $4,341 to $5,372.

The smallest increase this year was at the University at Buffalo (SUNY): 1.7%, from $5,966 to $6,068.


What I also noticed (actually told - I still can't read) is that the price range in tuition cost is pretty dramatic. If I were to attend the least expensive school on the list (University of Florida, Gainseville), I already have over a half year's tuition paid for ($3180). Then again, other colleges have tuition over $11,000 a year. I'm sure glad I'm starting to save early.

2 comments:

Karthik said...

Margot, firstly I love the idea behind your web site (thank your uncle when you do learn to talk!). Being single, I haven't given much thought to college education, but there are two programs that may be worth looking into.

The first is Prepaid College Tuition Plans (wow, talk about thinking long-term!!). You can learn more about them here. I have heard some concerns about how willing states may be to continue to fund these programs, if we have a sustained bear market.

I also like the Treasury Department's I-bonds. I have written about these in my blog.

Good luck with life. Trust me, you are at the prime ... life isn't quite the same without the thumb-sucking and acrobatics on the floor!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for stopping by and the links to the other information. I will have to get the adults right on those (as you probably guessed, I don't read yet, although I'm much better at focusing on things these days.

I will try to remember about the thumb sucking and acrobatics and enjoy them while I can!