Can’t Afford College? Move to California!
posted by Mark on December 4th, 2008The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education’s annual National Report Card on Higher Education came out this week, and EVERY SINGLE STATE in the US earned a resounding “F” when it came to affordability (i.e., how hard it is to pay for college, taking into account tuition, financial aid and family income). Every state, that is, except California, which earned a shining C- due to its unusually low-cost community colleges. Congratulations, you’re slightly below par!
Particularly telling is the report’s chart (left) of college tuition growth as compared to other major expenses since 1982-84. Not only has it increased by more than four times the rate of the Consumer Price Index during that time, but its pace is more than that of food, housing and transportation COMBINED. Only health care comes relatively close to the meteoric rise in college costs, and even that is just a bit more than half the rate of tuition.
Just eight years ago, 46 states passed the affordability test, meaning that only — no wait, don’t tell me, 7 5 4 states flunked. See what education can do for you?
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Tags: college survival tips, education, tuition
February 10th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
[...] trend isn’t surprising; even before the recession, the meteoric rise in tuition costs dampened the public’s enthusiasm for higher education. A recent survey by the National Center [...]