When you attend college, you might pay tuition and expenses equal to the value of a luxury car, or you might pay close to nothing. The average college tuition increase per year generally outpaces inflation, but this point does not factor in outside financial help that students might receive. Also, many students have several options for a low-cost education or ways to defray some of the rising costs of a college education.
Identification
The average cost of a college education does not give you the true cost of what students pay, because the average differs greatly depending on what type of university you attend. A student at a public two-year university paid about $2,713 in tuition and fees in the 2007-2008 school year, but add all expenses and the total jumped to $12,000. Students at four-year universities paid just under $20,000; and those at four-year nonprofit private schools paid about $35,000 during the 2007-2008 school year, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Considerations
Because of the wide spectrum of college costs, it is better to use the median cost of college tuition, which was about $9,000 in 2010, according to College Board. Also, published figures do not include offsets, such as financial aid and scholarships. Financial aid brought the average total expenses at a four-year university down to about $10,000 and those at a nonprofit four-year university to about $17,000 in the 2007-2008 school year.
Rising Costs
In general, college costs increase at about twice the rate of overall inflation in the economy, or 8 percent for college tuition, according to the website FinAid. This means that the price of tuition doubles about every nine years, which means a person born today probably will pay close to three times the average price of tuition at the time of his birth.
Tip
It always pays to apply to several colleges and compare their financial aid offers, regardless of their published price. Apply for aid as early as possible, because colleges tend to give awards at the beginning of the year. Consider attending a two-year college and matriculating to a four-year university -- you might even receive a scholarship for transferring with high grades. Take advanced-placement courses during high school. If you score high enough on the AP exams, the college awards you credit. Also, study for entrance exams, such as the ACT and SAT, because colleges give more aid when you far exceed their admission requirements.
Tags: 2007-2008 school, 2007-2008 school year, college tuition, four-year university, school year