Report: Tuition and aid continue to rise

The price of a college education increases every year, but luckily, so do most schools' commitments to provide financial aid.

At four-year public and private colleges, average tuition prices and financial-aid packages both increased for the current academic year, according to a report published by the College Board last week.

Penn's tuition increase of 4.5 percent was significantly below the average at four-year private universities, and 110 more students are receiving Penn grant aid than last year, said director of student financial aid Bill Schilling.

According to the College Board report, tuition prices for private, four-year colleges increased by an average of 5.9 percent last year - topping $25,000 per year for the first time.

Rates for public, four-year institutions increased by 6.4 percent, reaching an average of $6,585 per year for in-state students.

But after adjusting for inflation, tuition averages increased by only 0.3 percent at private, four-year universities and 0.7 percent at four-year public colleges.

These tuition percent increases are in line with those of the past few years, according to College Board consultant Jennifer Ma.

But Penn has "held the increase in tuition and fees below the average for 10 of the last 14 years," said Penn President Amy Gutmann.

"It's important I think to emphasize that we work very hard to control our costs and keep our increases as low as possible," she said, adding that "when inflation has gone up we have not increased our tuition fees correspondingly."

College Board also reported that after adjusting for inflation, the average student received an increase of 5.5 percent in grants and federal loans for the 2007-2008 year.

But the amount of student aid allocated through private loans decreased by 1 percent this year.

This decrease comes after 10 years in which the amount of private loan aid increased by about 23 percent per year.

The College Board report was compiled before the current credit crisis and does not take into account new concerns over tuition rates and students' abilities to obtain loans.

Ma wrote that the College Board does not try to predict future tuition fees and financial-aid rates - numbers which will be determined by the country's general economic condition, state and institutional budgets and the stock market.

While Schilling declined to comment on next year's tuition prices, he said Penn is "committed to continuing its policies of need-blind admission" and meeting students' financial needs.

Gutmann also expressed the University's commitment to "continue our financial-aid program with the enhanced no-loan packages" and help families who have "had significant changes because of the [economic] downturn."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.