<p>Bandit_TX:</p>
<p>Thanks for the interesting link to utwatch.org. The data there corresponds to our family’s experiences. Tuition cost around $250 a semester to attend UT as an in-state student in the 1970’s, so it doesn’t surprise me that tuition costs have risen dramatically since then. I also noticed this concluding paragraph from the website you linked that puts the UT tuition increases in perspective:</p>
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<p>One more lousy post. When we had our kid (1985), we read and was told/informed that we should expect college costs to increase at 6% average, compounded. Your data, and I assure you that, the numbers hold true for Bro going to P in 1965, and DS to CMU going in 2002, and myself to OSU (Oregon) in 1968, when the 6% is factored into college costs and compared to today’s tuition.</p>
<p>The numbers are only unexpected if you ignore the longterm projections. No sympathy from me.</p>
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<p>BB, you are so easy to please … here’s a table with Harvard’s full cost, followed by the US CPI changes, the Boston CPI changes, and the Median Family Income (quoted earlier):</p>
<p>1985 14,100 105.8 106.6 34,482
1986 10,266 108.8 111.2 36,653
1987 16,145 111.2 113.9 38,861
1988 17,100 115.8 120.2 41,413
1989 18,210 121.2 127.8 42,192
1990 19,395 127.0 134.3 46,101
1991 20,655 133.9 142.3 47,164
1992 22,080 138.2 146.6 49,606
1993 23,514 142.5 151.1 50,079
1994 24,880 146.2 153.5 52,034
1995 26,230 150.4 156.7 54,379
1996 27,575 154.5 160.6 55,029
1997 28,896 158.9 165.7 57,161
1998 30,080 161.7 169.6 59,959
1999 31,132 164.5 173.2 61,833
2000 32,164 169.3 179.3 65,303
2001 33,110 175.1 187.6 68,082
2002 34,269 178.2 193.3 68,114
2003 35,950 182.1 200.0 69,180
2004 37,928 186.1 207.0 70,149
2005 39,880 189.8 214.3 71,973</p>
<p>PS I’ve never heard of Carnegie Mellon - hahahahaha :D</p>
<p>When we were calculating college costs I saw a recommendation to build in an expected increase of about 7% per year. So far it’s been pretty close to that. One year it’s tuition, another year it’s room/meals, and most any year there’s an increased cost for books. Now, add airline jet fuel surcharges.</p>
<p>umm… i noticed that you say the top 5% incomes make up 55% of student body at harvard, what about other schools with comparable costs(35-45k)… I can guarantee that at some of the top LACs ranked 25-50 there is way less than 55% of the student body in the top 5% income range.</p>
<p>The more elite schools for me turned out to be the most afforable once aid was factored in, so go figure</p>