College Costs Rise, But Student Borrowing Declines

As for key federal student aid findings, the report showed that undergraduates received an average of $14,210 in financial aid in 2014-2015 school year, including $8,170 in grants, $4,800 in federal loans, and $1,170 in education tax credits and deductions, and $70 in Federal Work-Study.

The grant is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $3.2 million in federal College Access Challenge Grant Program funding that has been awarded to 20 organizations across the state to help increase college enrollment and directly serve low-income students. But on public four-year campuses, students are paying 38 percent more than in 2005-06.

Significantly, and perhaps counter to public impressions, the report notes, price increases are not accelerating over time.

Still, UMass students can take solace in the fact that in-state tuition could be worse.

Sandy Baum, a co-author of the price report and a second report on student aid, told reporters in a phone conference that this year’s price increases are less than those in years past but stand out given inflation, which is under 1 percent.

The average published tuition and fee prices at public four-year institutions for the 2015-2016 school year is 40 percent higher than it was a decade ago, in the 2005-2006 school year, 29 percent higher in the public two-year sector, and 26 percent higher in the private non-profit four-year sector. But that so-called net price climbs to an average $14,120 when room and board are added. “The increases in tuition and fee prices in 2015-16 were, like the increases in the two preceding years, relatively small by historical standards”. The costs were up about 3 percent from previous year across the board.

The companion report, “Trends in Student Aid 2015”, shows a continuation of last year’s trend: a decline in student borrowing for college. Enrollment in traditional four-year public and nonprofit colleges has remained stable despite a decline in the number of 18-year-olds.

The reports found student borrowing has declined slightly in the past four years, defaults have leveled and tuition prices aren’t rising as sharply as in the past.

Alan F. Edwards, Jr., director of policy studies for Virginia’s State Council of Higher Education, said the public universities have had to raise tuition because elected officials have cut public funding. Over the last decade, average room and board costs have risen at least 18% faster than inflation, the College Board said. Total student borrowing declined by 6 percent in 2014-15. Even though many states have restored funding, few are providing as much as they did before the financial markets crashed.

Those schools long have blamed their pricey tuition largely on Pennsylvania’s rank near the bottom in terms of state subsidies for higher education.

The report also looked at tuition and fees at flagship state universities.

The least expensive state for four-year public campuses is Wyoming at $4,891, followed by Montana at $6,351. In the Washington area, prices are $9,996 at the University of Maryland in College Park and $14,468 at the University of Virginia for local residents.

Tuition at public schools averaged $9,410 for in-state students this school year, which is a 2.9 percent annual increase when adjusted for inflation.