College Costs

Parents are reaching deeper into their pockets this fall than ever before to pay the rapidly increasing costs of sending children away to college. Indeed, the College Entrance Examination Board estimates that the average total costs at a four-year public college will be $2,679 this year, a 12% jump from 1974. The average at a private college: $4,391, a 9% increase.

At many top-level private schools, the bill will be much higher, often climbing above $6,000 a year (see chart). Bennington College has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive undergraduate institution in the U.S.; tuition, fees, room and board will be $6,280 this year. At most colleges, books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses will add at least $700 to the bill.

Some first-rate private colleges seem bargain-priced: Beloit is $4,595 and Grinnell $4,620. Top-rank public universities cost even less; the University of California at Berkeley is $2,174 for state residents, and the University of Michigan is $2,398.

The reason for the high costs: the schools' expenses are up, while their income, because of the depressed economy, is down. Says Richard W. Lyman, president of Stanford University (cost: $5,530): "Institutions like Stanford have passed from an era of robust financial growth to one of determined and systematic belt tightening." Unfortunately, every time the colleges pull in another notch, they further put the squeeze on students and families--who now face bills of $10,000 to $25,000 to send a student through four years of college.

The Top Ten

COLLEGE TUITION, FEES, ROOM AND BOARD

1. Bennington College $6,280 2. Sarah Lawrence College 6,250 3. M.I.T. 6,030 4. Harvard-Radcliffe 5,930 5. Yale University 5,920 6. Princeton University 5,800 7. Brown University 5,772 8. Dartmouth College 5,725 9. Tufts University 5,635 10. Columbia University 5,600

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.