<p>And this is news?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/education/25tuition.html?ex=1319428800&en=553eb7b10085f6ac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/education/25tuition.html?ex=1319428800&en=553eb7b10085f6ac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss</a></p>
<p>LOL! When I clicked on the thread, I was thinking… IDad is posting this as news??</p>
<p>LOL is right - I had a similar reaction as I watched the CBS news piece on this story last night. In any case, we are asked to give a rousing (and I do assume not a Bronx) cheer for New York: </p>
<p>"College students and their parents can take one consolation in rising tuition costs - they’re going up at a slower pace at New York public colleges than they are nationally.</p>
<p>While tuition and fees at public four-year colleges nationwide jumped 6.3 percent to an average of $5,836, the cost here rose less than 1 percent to an average of $5,046, according to an annual College Board survey released yesterday.</p>
<p>Prices at two-year schools in New York rose nearly 2.5 percent to an average of $3,460, compared to a nationwide hike of 4.1 percent to $2,272.</p>
<p>The figures exclude room and board, which average $6,960 nationwide.</p>
<p>Fran Clark, a program coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group, which opposes tuition hikes, said the findings were “good news” and the result of state lawmakers heeding the needs of students.</p>
<p>“Last year, the state Legislature stood up and provided the best budget for students in probably a generation,” Clark said. “We’re glad the state made the choice to invest in higher education and we hope the next governor follows the trend.”</p>
<p>Average annual cost at a four-year State University of New York school is $5,416, and $3,247 at a two-year SUNY school, much of which can be covered by the state’s Tuition Assistance Plan.</p>
<p>The City University of New York claims the cost at a four-year college runs about $4,300 and about $3,000 at a two-year school.</p>
<p>The state’s private colleges, however, are another story.</p>
<p>Parents sending their children to a four-year private college should be prepared to shell out $24,964 - about $2,700 more than the national average and a 5.8-percent jump."</p>
<p><a href=“COLLEGE CHEER FOR N.Y.; LOWER TUITION HIKES THAN U.S. AVG.”>COLLEGE CHEER FOR N.Y.; LOWER TUITION HIKES THAN U.S. AVG.;
<p>Front page news in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that PA is no longer the most expensive state for public colleges, although we are still almost four thousand a year above the national average.</p>
<p>I suppose it is not much of a surprise that hindsight is always 20/20 either:</p>
<p>“For the wealthy with lots of financial assets, college costs less than it used to. For those who depend on their jobs for income, the opposite is true.”</p>
<p>"It now takes more than a year of work for the average American to earn enough income to pay for a year at a private college, where costs have risen more rapidly than inflation for 26 consecutive years.</p>
<p>But by one measure, American colleges cost less than they used to. Those who plan on paying for their childrens education by selling part of their stock portfolios now need to sell less than half as many shares as their parents would have had to sell a quarter-century ago."</p>
<p>According to the same article “At private colleges, College Board figures show the average student now pays about 70 percent of the posted price, down from 73 percent in the late 1990s.”</p>
<p>“Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst at the College Board and a professor of economics at Skidmore College, hates to see such figures published. What worries me is that people throw up their hands and say, I cannot pay that, she said, adding that people with average income usually can get financial aid to enable their children to attend college for far less than the posted prices.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/28/business/28chart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/28/business/28chart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></p>
<p>Ditto!! Anyone who has been paying college tuition for a period of time already KNOWS that the tuition increases have been higher than the rate of inflation. OH…when are they going to publish the article that says “college tuition costs outpace average salary increases”? Most of us paying college tuition already know that our salary increases have not kept pace with the rising cost of tuition…thus decreasing our cash flow or need to take out additional loans as costs rise and our paychecks don’t. OH…and I do find these articles amusing…as they only talk about college TUITION. What about housing and board? The costs of these have also risen dramatically for on campus housing which is required in some places. Come on folks…going to college doesn’t only mean tuition…these articles should reflect COST OF ATTENDANCE!</p>
<p>Really! Room and board is almost $10,000 a year at many private colleges. That’s more than $1000 a month!!! (And that’s for a shared room of about 200 square feet.) Ridiculous…</p>
<p>And when you realize that school is actually about 30 weeks a year the cost seems insane.</p>
<p>But I see you took the words out of my mouth, idad, in sharing this interesting story from a newspaper, which is hardly news. </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>