Rising costs weigh heavily on students deciding where to attend college
As college acceptance letters begin popping up in mailboxes across the county, incoming students are left with the daunting task of choosing the right school. While cost has always been a consideration, more students than ever before are now considering it a key factor—not only in terms of which school to attend, but whether to go to college at all.
Alan G. Walker
Consider the financial barriers. Tuition at public four-year institutions rose more than 8 percent between 2010-11 and 2011-12, according to a recent report by the College Board. That’s more than two and a half times the rate of inflation. To cover these rising costs, today’s students are borrowing twice the amount they did just a decade ago. Now, for the first time in history, student-loan debt has surpassed credit-card debt, according to recent reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Department of Education and other sources. American students are now more than $1 trillion in debt for their studies; American consumers owe $828 billion
Alan G. WalkerConsider the financial barriers. Tuition at public four-year institutions rose more than 8 percent between 2010-11 and 2011-12, according to a recent report by the College Board. That’s more than two and a half times the rate of inflation. To cover these rising costs, today’s students are borrowing twice the amount they did just a decade ago. Now, for the first time in history, student-loan debt has surpassed credit-card debt, according to recent reports from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Department of Education and other sources. American students are now more than $1 trillion in debt for their studies; American consumers owe $828 billion
