Taking the Anxiety Out of Paying For College

摘要

The cost of higher education has been rising sharply for the past 25 years. The General Accounting Office (GAO) reported in 1996 that average tuition at public universities has soared since 1980 by 234%, much faster than earnings and general inflation. Tuition at private universities has grown even more rapidly over the same period. These increases have outstripped the general rise in prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has risen 85% since 1980, and the average family's ability to pay for college as measured by household income, which has gone up 82% since 1980.