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University education costs are rising

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   http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7070244.htm

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7070244.htm

Posted on Wed, Oct. 22, 2003

HIGHER EDUCATION
Public tuition costs steadily growing
Tuition costs at the nation's public universities, including those in Florida, are rising sharply, although Florida colleges still charge less than the national average.
BY ROBERT L. STEINBACK
rsteinback@herald.com

The annual cost of attending the nation's public four-year universities increased 47 percent over the last decade, easily outpacing inflation due mostly to states' funding not keeping up with growth, according to a study released Tuesday.

At private universities, costs increased 42 percent in the last decade, compared to a 27 percent increase in cost-of-living.

The good news: Financial aid appears to have kept pace with the tuition increases. But students aren't benefiting the same as in the past, as a smaller share is tied to financial need and more comes in the form of loans that must be repaid.

The increases were particularly steep in the most recent years, prompting complaints from seasoned students.

''I don't see how the tuition hike is benefiting us,'' said John Harvey of Plantation, a Florida International University senior, who watched fellow students get locked out of classes this fall due to lack of availability.

Public-school tuition jumped 13 percent last year, the sharpest increase in three decades, according to The College Board, a national nonprofit organization of member colleges which also owns the SAT exam.

Private college tuition hikes in the last three years were the highest since the mid-1980s.

The College Board also reported that tuition at two-year public colleges, such as Florida's community colleges, increased $231, or 13.8 percent, to $1,905 for the current year. About one-fourth of all full-time undergraduates attend two-year schools.

Florida legislators, struggling to balance the state's budget for this year in light of near-stagnant state revenues, forced the state's 11 public universities to absorb a $40 million cut, even as they admitted more students. Community colleges fared slightly better, but still have turned away an estimated 35,000 students this fall due to lack of funding.

Even so, Florida universities, both public and private, continue to be a cheaper buy compared to the national average, the report said.

Tuition at Florida's public universities has increased 23.2 percent during the last three years. And at a meeting in Tallahassee today, the system's Board of Governors will consider whether to seek a tuition hike again in 2004-05.

One expert said the dollar increase in tuition costs is more important than the percentage increase.

''In absolute terms, public higher education is increasingly a better deal than private higher education in terms of costs,'' said Ron G. Ehrenberg, director of Cornell University's Higher Education Reseach Institute and author of the book Tuition Rising: Why College Costs So Much. ``People don't pay in percentages, they pay in absolute dollars.''

But a spokesman for an organization representing 27 private colleges in Florida said Ehrenberg's assessment doesn't factor in financial aid. About 80 percent of private university students in Florida receive some form of financial aid, said John van Gieson of The Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida.

The cost of undergraduate tuition and fees at those 27 private Florida colleges was $14,561 for 2002-03, an increase of $891 over the previous year.

The College Board reported a national average of $19,710 for private college tuition and fees alone, a $1,214 increase over the previous year.

At the University of Miami, more than 85 percent of students receive financial aid, a spokesman said. The average full-time undergraduate paid $35,545 in tuition, room, board and fees, while receiving $22,053 in financial aid.

While the amount of financial aid has also risen, a growing percentage of that money comes in the form of loans rather than grants, which do not need to be repaid.

This year the average Pell Grant, the federal government's largest program for helping low-income students, is $2,421, only about 3 percent more than last year, according to the College Board.

Another factor affecting who gets help paying for college is whether the aid is based on financial need or grades.

During the past decade, many states, including Florida, have altered state aid programs so that the majority of grants go to students based on grades rather than need. Florida's Bright Futures program expects to award $235.7 million in scholarships this school year, more than twice as much as the state will spend on need-based aid.

Experts blame the public tuition hikes on state cutbacks. Cornell's Ehrenberg said studies of various state systems show that public universities have more nontenured and part-time faculty, and lower faculty salaries, than private institutions.

''The cutbacks in public higher education are driven by increased enrollments,'' Ehrneberg said. ``State support is not increasing by enough in real terms to cover the costs of educating these students.''

Herald staff writers D.E. Léger and Joni James contributed to this report.




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