As students nationwide suffer the effects of rising tuition at both public and private universities, financial aid continues to increase, primarily in the form of loans.
According to the College Board’s yearly survey of higher-education pricing, public universities took the larger chunk of the tuition increase this past year, with an approximate rise of 9.6 percent, compared to the 5.8 percent for private institutions. Community colleges were hit with an increase in the middle of these institutions, at 7.9 percent.
Severe drops in state revenues have forced many universities to announce increases. Ohio State University increased tuition 18 percent, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rose 10 percent. Other universities in Kansas, Minnesota and Washington have also spoken of rising tuition.
Many universities attribute this tuition rise to increases in faculty salaries, rising technology and computer labs, high-speed Internet connections and extravagant dormitories.
The University of Wisconsin has also been increasing tuition, largely due to budget problems, with a strong focus on out-of-state students; however, recent talks suggest the new rise will primarily affect in-state students. Last year, out-of-state tuition rose 12.7 percent, compared to the 9.6 percent increase for in-state tuition.
“As an out-of-state student, I am obviously paying a lot to be here,” UW freshman Zach Stern said. “However, while the value of the education outweighs the costs for me, the same may not be true if out-of-state tuition continues to rise.”
Alexis Tate, the University of Illinois’ Associate Director of University Public Affairs, attributes tuition increases to reduced state funding. However, Tate said U of I is reducing the effects of these problems by reallocating funds and limiting the number of salary increases to faculty members receiving promotions.
Student aid is on the rise as well, but only 39 percent of aid remains in the form of grants. The majority of these grants are awarded on the basis of need, with a small number of grants being awarded based on students’ academic merit, sports abilities and musical talents. However, loans make up the majority of the $90 billion in total student aid awarded.
“Illinois has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into need-based grants,” Tate said. “Illinois offers the third-largest number of grants in the country. Many states haven’t kept up this program.”
At U of I, these grants help to counteract the increase in tuition to help students afford these new costs. For the 2001-02 academic year, freshmen were charged $500 more in tuition costs, and for the current 2002-03 academic year, freshmen were hit with an increase of $1,000. According to Tate, tuition increases of this kind are expected to continue in future years. No exact amount has been determined.
“However, roughly half of our students still don’t pay the full ticket,” Tate said.
Loans aren’t calculated into this number.
“Great public universities are still a bargain to out-of-state students,” Tate said. “They are more of a bargain than private universities such as Stanford and Northwestern; [this] will keep these students coming back.”
