State Bucks Trend of Rising Costs for College

The cost of a college degree continues to rise faster than inflation, with tuition and fees up an average of 4.4% at public four-year colleges and even more at private schools, the College Board has reported.

Its survey also found that loans provide a growing chunk of the extra money students need to pay for college degrees.

Average in-state tuition and fees at public four-year schools this fall is $3,510 per year, $148 more than last year, according to the survey. On-campus room and board now averages $4,960, up 5.1%.

At private four-year colleges, tuition and fees average $16,332, up 5.2% from last year. Room and board on campus is now $6,209, a 4.2% increase.

Only public two-year schools, chiefly community colleges, stayed below the current inflation rate, but barely. Tuition rose this year to $1,705, up 3.4%, the survey found.

California has bucked the trend. Annual fees at California State and University of California campuses were cut 10% in recent years and are holding steady at $1,428 and $3,964, respectively.

California community college fees, which are the lowest of any community college system in the country, have also gone down and remained steady this year at $11 per unit.

The recent increases elsewhere in the nation push past inflation. The consumer price index rose 2.7% in 1999; in the first eight months of this year, consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 3.5%. Last year, college tuition and fees rose less than 5%.

The New York-based College Board is a nonprofit organization that administers the SAT test and promotes higher education.