College costs: a dire financial outlook?

For most students, the private college experience comes with a hefty price. At Tufts, as well as nationally, tuition has been rising steadily for years. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, colleges and universities across the country have become less affordable for students and their families over the past 10 years. Since cost is a deciding factor for some students, an expensive education may prove too much of a burden after four years, and it may account in part for the low national graduation rate. "The increase in price has forced many students to switch their standing from full time to part time," Mikyung Ryu of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education told the University of Delaware's Review. Students who work to pay for their education are at a disadvantage as well. According to Ryu, "they need to work more to pay for it, which can take longer for them to complete graduation requirements." This means that fewer students are able to graduate in six years. The total cost of one year of a Tufts education has risen by at least $1,000 every year over the past 10 years: From 2003-2004 to 2004-2005, the cost rose by over $1,800, according to Tufts' Factbook. Over the past five years, more students applying to Tufts have requested financial aid, an indication that the increase in cost has not been easy for many students to handle. On the indicator of four-year private college affordability, the state of Massachusetts is ranked second-lowest by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The Center gave the state an "F" for overall affordability - the same grade that most other states received. But the tuition rise is not as clear-cut as it may seem. While cost may go down in some industries as technology improves efficiency, colleges cannot follow suit. "The type of education delivered at most private colleges is very labor-intensive, and we haven't yet found a way to substitute machines for professors," Associate Professor of Economics David Garman said. "We don't get the same kind of increase in productivity that you might get in a steel mill or an auto plant," he added. What most people don't see is the actual cost of providing an education. "Even though it may look like tuition cost has been rising at a ridiculous rate over the past 20 years, the cost of providing an education has been increasing at an even faster rate," Garman added. "Tuition collected by private colleges usually only pays about half of the cost of providing an education." What fails to get covered by tuition gets paid for through fundraising. While Garman did not predict significant changes in the path of rising tuition costs in the future, he did anticipate enlarged university fundraising. "What I would expect is that the aggressive fundraising that private colleges have been doing will increase and become even more aggressive," he said. The cost of providing an education also includes the heated competition between selective colleges to rank higher and higher. "Private colleges are always competing against each other to get the best faculty, the best facilities, the best students - to be the best overall," Garman said. Students who receive financial aid may want to take it as a compliment. "Because private colleges are competing for the best students, they use financial aid as a discount to attract those students," Garman said. - by Arianne Baker