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Serving Pikes Peak Community College students |
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By Dustin Demonja
College tuition is on the minds of every parent and student in America, and lately the prices for attending an institution of higher learning are getting more and more expensive. Many institutions have to raise the tuition costs as state government may remove more and more funding from them.
At PPCC, students taking 12 credits last semester paid $948 if they had applied for COF. Without COF, students at PPCC would have paid $1,898 for the summer semester. Both amounts include a $75 student fee.
How is one to pay for college then?
In 2002 to 2003, $105 billion was distributed in student financial aid, which was $13 billion more than was distributed the previous year. Total aid per full-time student averages about $9,100, with $3,600 of that amount given in the form of grants.
Tuition is not the only college students must worry about; they also have fees and living expenses.
Here are some Trends in College pricing with tuition and fees in 2003 compared to 2004 according to the College Board:
At four-year public institutions, tuition and fees average $579 more than last year ($4,694 vs. $4,115, a 14.1 percent increase).
At four-year private institutions, tuition and fees average $1,114 more than last year ($19,710 vs. $18,596, a 6.0 percent increase).
At two-year public institutions, tuition and fees average $231 more than last year ($1,905 vs. $1,674, a 13.8 percent increase).
For the most part tuition is increasing due to the government cutting funding to universities and colleges. With the reduced amount that they are getting from the state and national governments, they are forced to bring the money in one way or another. On the other hand, studies have shown that only 8 percent of students are enrolled in universities with tuition and fees exceeding $24,000 a year. However it must be noted that circumstances are very different for families with different income levels. Statistically the total cost of a four-year institution is only about 5 percent to 6 percent of a high-income family; they are about 19 percent for middle-income families, and these tuition costs are about 70 percent for low-income families. For comparison purposes lets look at instate costs, these figures include both tuition, fees, and a living costs.
4-year private and public institutions:
Colorado College - $36,704
University of Denver - $36,160
Colorado Christian University - $23,550
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs - $12,852
Colorado State University - $10,706
2-year private and public institutions:
Colorado Mountain College - $8,930
Otero Junior College - $7,464
Trinidad State Junior College - $7,314
Pikes Peak Community College - $2,941
All these figures from the 2003-2004 school year were taken from a website called Lunch Money, they have a quite extensive database of information regarding many universities across the United States. You can access their website by going to lunch-money.com. Most of the information is free to the public, but you can register with them to gain more access and receive e-mails regarding tuition.
This site also has useful tools such as various calculators to help you to plan and organize all of your college funding.
Speaking of organizing funds, more and more students and universities are putting a large emphasis on financial aid to compensate for much of the enormous costs of school.
One good thing is that student aid money has increased over the past year by 15% and grant money by 10%. The majority of students will receive a small amount of money in the form of grants. Most students receive most of their funding by scholarships, loans, and work-study programs. Many of the loans are subsidized, however, so the student does not have any interest until a period after he or she graduates.
There is also need-based aid such as the Federal Pell Grant. Most universities require that their students fill out the FAFSFA (get more information at their web site: www.fafsa.ed.gov/) this form allows the government and your school to determine how much need based aid you can receive.
College is obviously an investment. It is proven over and over again that a college graduate will make more money per year than a non-graduate figures show that is about 60% more. For now the government in Colorado seems to be on the side of the student and keeping tuition hikes as low as possible. As the economy shifts so will tuition costs, the only thing we can do is fight it and try to win, and go to school and get our educations.
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