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WASHINGTON, DC -- Tuition and fees for students at four-year public colleges have risen 41 percent after inflation since 2001, according to an analysis of data contained in a new College Board report released today. The report also shows that the costs of tuition and fees at four-year public colleges have continued to outpace inflation over the last year. U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) said that the report highlights the urgent need for Congress to enact Democratic proposals that would make college more affordable and accessible.
“This report offers strong evidence that students and parents continue to face a mounting college affordability crisis,” said Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “Since 2001, the price of public college tuition has skyrocketed. These high prices leave college graduates saddled with unmanageable debt and prevent many qualified students from attending college in the first place. This is not only unfair, but it undermines our ability to maintain America’s economic leadership in the world.
“Yet rather than working to find solutions to help students and parents meet these rising costs, Republican leaders in Congress put college further out of reach for many students by cutting $12 billion from the federal student aid programs earlier this year,” said Miller. “Democrats believe we must invest in our nation’s economic future by helping students and families pay for college. We need a new direction for America so that every qualified student will be able to afford the price of college.”
The report also shows that students are increasingly relying more on loans to pay for college than on grant aid, like scholarships. In the 2005-06 school year, grant aid accounted for only 42 percent of total college aid – the lowest share ever.
Democrats’ New Direction for America calls for cutting interest rates in half on college loans and increasing the value of the Pell Grant scholarship. For more information, click here.
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