As seen on cnbc.com
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KEY POINTS
Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown and Harvard all raised undergraduate tuition for the 2020-2021 academic year, even though classes are being taught largely online.
Students argue remote learning should cost less, not more, than an in-person education.
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Until the coronavirus crisis, nothing had been able to slow the pace of annual college tuition increases.
Year after year, college costs edged higher, rising 3% to 5%, on average — outpacing inflation and family income.
However, in the midst of the pandemic, schools are under pressure to keep these increases in check. Several institutions said they would freeze tuition during the ongoing economic crisis, while a smaller number announced discounts or even more dramatic tuition cuts.
As a result, this year increases in tuition and fees were the lowest in three decades, according to the College Board — rising just 1% to 2% in 2020-21 at public and private colleges.
And yet, there were schools that raised their prices anyway, including some of the nation’s most elite institutions, with healthy enrollment numbers and solid endowments.
Stanford, Yale, Wellesley, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth, Rice and Grinnell College all raised undergraduate tuition for 2020-2021 about 4% to 5%, even though classes are being taught largely online, according to a recent report by GoBankingRates.
“There are no instructional cost savings for Grinnell to pass along to students who enroll online,” according to Grinnell’s website. “Consequently, we will not apply a universal discount to the cost of courses offered online.”
Harvard University and California Institute of Technology were fully remote in the fall and invited only a limited number of students on campus for the spring. However, tuition still increased roughly 4% at both institutions.
At colleges across the country, undergraduates have voiced extreme dissatisfaction with remote learning, particularly at the same high cost they were previously paying for an in-person education.
Some have even taken their cases to court to argue that tuition should be lowered while they are studying from home.
“Here we are in a pandemic, people cannot afford to pay more — they can’t even pay the same amount,” said James Toscano, president of Partners for College Affordability and Public Trust.
“This is going to come to a head again when institutions set their tuition for next year,” he added.
Many schools, however, are in a bind. Most are facing a significant financial shortfall from declining public funds and decreased enrollment as some students decide to opt out, for now.
These days, tuition accounts for about half of a school’s revenue and providing a college education — even online — is only getting more expensive, according to Richard Arum, dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine.
Paying for faculty is one of a school’s largest expenses and those outlays remain fixed, plus there are extra costs from software and technological upgrades as well as new public safety measures due to Covid-19.
Already, universities have announced revenue losses in the hundreds of millions.
As seen on cnbc.com
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KEY POINTS
When adding in room and board and other expenses, the total college tab can be more than $70,000 a year.
Because so few families can shoulder the burden, they have increasingly turned to student loans.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he would forgive some of that debt.
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This year, because of the coronavirus crisis, college costs have become an even bigger consideration among students and parents.
At the same time, the price tag for a four-year college or university has never been higher.
Tuition and fees, alone, reached $10,560 for in-state students at four-year public colleges in the 2020-21 academic year, and $37,650 for students at four-year private institutions, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.
When adding in room and board and other expenses, the total tab can be more than $70,000 a year for undergraduates at some private colleges or even out-of-state students attending four-year public schools.
For years, college costs have crept up, rising 3% to 5% every year, outpacing inflation and family income.
Now, in the middle of the pandemic, schools are under more pressure to keep these increases in check.
As a result, increases in tuition and fees were the lowest in three decades, the College Board found – increasing just 1% to 2% in 2020-21 at public and private colleges.
“This year’s data underscore the profound impact Covid-19 has had on higher education,” Jessica Howell, the College Board’s vice president for research, said in a statement.
“Although average tuition increased again this year, the increases are among the lowest we’ve seen since 1990-91.”
The nation’s most expensive schools include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Duke, Tufts and Brown University, according to a recent report by GoBankingRates, based on data from U.S. News & World Report.
At MIT, for example, tuition and fees, room and board and other student expenses came to over $73,160 last year. The school was among several institutions that freezed tuition during the ongoing economic crisis. (A smaller number announced tuition discounts or even more dramatic tuition cuts.)
Because so few families can shoulder the burden, they have increasingly turned to federal and private aid to help foot the bills, pushing outstanding student debt to a stunning $1.7 trillion.
Despite a steep drop in interest rates, overall student debt has only increased during the pandemic, according to a separate report by Fidelity Investments.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he would forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers, and the rest of the debt for those who attended public colleges or historically Black colleges and universities and earn less than $125,000 a year.
In all, that would slash the country’s outstanding student loan tab by about a third, according to calculations by higher-education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Now, as the payment pause for student loan borrowers nears its end, Biden is under increasing pressure to go even further.
In a recent Pew survey, 58% of student loan borrowers said that it would be difficult for them to resume making payments.
As seen on cnbc.com
—
KEY POINTS
Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown and Harvard all raised undergraduate tuition for the 2020-2021 academic year, even though classes are being taught largely online.
Students argue remote learning should cost less, not more, than an in-person education.
—
Until the coronavirus crisis, nothing had been able to slow the pace of annual college tuition increases.
Year after year, college costs edged higher, rising 3% to 5%, on average — outpacing inflation and family income.
However, in the midst of the pandemic, schools are under pressure to keep these increases in check. Several institutions said they would freeze tuition during the ongoing economic crisis, while a smaller number announced discounts or even more dramatic tuition cuts.
As a result, this year increases in tuition and fees were the lowest in three decades, according to the College Board — rising just 1% to 2% in 2020-21 at public and private colleges.
And yet, there were schools that raised their prices anyway, including some of the nation’s most elite institutions, with healthy enrollment numbers and solid endowments.
Stanford, Yale, Wellesley, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth, Rice and Grinnell College all raised undergraduate tuition for 2020-2021 about 4% to 5%, even though classes are being taught largely online, according to a recent report by GoBankingRates.
“There are no instructional cost savings for Grinnell to pass along to students who enroll online,” according to Grinnell’s website. “Consequently, we will not apply a universal discount to the cost of courses offered online.”
Harvard University and California Institute of Technology were fully remote in the fall and invited only a limited number of students on campus for the spring. However, tuition still increased roughly 4% at both institutions.
At colleges across the country, undergraduates have voiced extreme dissatisfaction with remote learning, particularly at the same high cost they were previously paying for an in-person education.
Some have even taken their cases to court to argue that tuition should be lowered while they are studying from home.
“Here we are in a pandemic, people cannot afford to pay more — they can’t even pay the same amount,” said James Toscano, president of Partners for College Affordability and Public Trust.
“This is going to come to a head again when institutions set their tuition for next year,” he added.
Many schools, however, are in a bind. Most are facing a significant financial shortfall from declining public funds and decreased enrollment as some students decide to opt out, for now.
These days, tuition accounts for about half of a school’s revenue and providing a college education — even online — is only getting more expensive, according to Richard Arum, dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine.
Paying for faculty is one of a school’s largest expenses and those outlays remain fixed, plus there are extra costs from software and technological upgrades as well as new public safety measures due to Covid-19.
Already, universities have announced revenue losses in the hundreds of millions.
As seen on cnbc.com
—
KEY POINTS
Studies show students are more likely to enroll in college when they have the financial resources to help them pay for it.
A number of states are considering bills to make the FAFSA mandatory for high school seniors.
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As college costs rise, financial aid is a growing necessity, yet many students still don’t apply.
Now, more states are requiring that they do — and paving the way to a college degree for some who might not be able to otherwise afford it.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, serves as the gateway to all federal money, including loans, work-study and grants, which are the most desirable kind of assistance.
Currently, only Louisiana and Illinois require you to file a FAFSA to graduate from high school. But soon the same will be true for Texas and at least another eight states, including California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska and New Jersey, which are all considering bills to make the FAFSA mandatory, as well.
The idea behind making the FAFSA mandatory is that students are more likely to enroll in college when they are aware of the financial resources available to help them pay for it, according to the National College Attainment Network.
FAFSA completion can boost a student’s likelihood of going to college and graduating, studies show.
In Louisiana, high school graduation rates have risen since the state implemented this rule, and the number of high school graduates immediately enrolling in college has climbed to an all-time high, according to early data.
“Time will tell if this is an effective approach, but more broadly, what’s particularly encouraging is that we’re seeing a collective understanding of how important it is for students and families to complete the FAFSA,” said Ashley Boucher, a spokeswoman for education lender Sallie Mae.
A lengthy and overly complicated application is another hurdle for many students and their families, Boucher said.
To that end, congressional education leaders have also been working toward simplifying the FAFSA, which would go a long way to increasing access even without state mandates.
In December, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed to streamline the process.
“Reducing the FAFSA from 108 questions to 36 will remove the biggest barrier to helping more low-income students pursue higher education,” said former senator Lamar Alexander, the leading driver behind simplifying the form, said in a statement.
However, those changes won’t go into effect until the 2023–24 academic year.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, parents and students may need more immediate help paying for college.
Yet even fewer families have applied for financial aid this year.
As of January, the number of applications was down 10% from last year, with roughly 144,000 fewer high school seniors applying, according to the National College Attainment Network.
“That is a number that certainly concerns us,” said Carrie Warick, director of policy and advocacy at the National College Attainment Network.
Some would-be undergraduates may have opted to find jobs instead of going to college to help their families through the economic crisis, Warick said. Others simply feel that the tuition tab is not worth it while colleges are operating remotely, particularly at the same high cost they would pay for an in-person education, she added.
In ordinary years, high school graduates miss out on billions in federal grants because they don’t fill out the FAFSA. Many families mistakenly assume they won’t qualify for financial aid and don’t even bother to apply.
Meanwhile, college costs are rising. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $50,770 in the 2020-21 school year; at four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $22,180, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.
For families who have already filed the FAFSA but have since experienced a financial shock, it is also possible to amend their FAFSA form or ask the college financial aid office for more aid, according to Kalman Chany, a financial aid consultant and author of The Princeton Review’s “Paying for College.”
“For students filling out the FAFSA this year, it won’t encompass how the pandemic may have impacted your financial picture,” he said.
If your household income has gone down, file your 2020 return so that you can document that reduction, he advised. “The more documentation you can provide, the better.”
Colleges are likely receptive to appeals, he added — particularly now.
As seen on cnbc.com
College applications are up by 10% this year, according to the Common Application, the most widely used college application. Yet those more selective public and private schools saw a 17% jump.
However, small institutions saw a decline across the board, except for the more selective private ones. Public school applications fell in both the more and less selective categories, by 3.76% and 4.71%, respectively, and applications to private, less selective colleges dropped 1.28%.
“Colleges and universities are businesses,” said certified financial planner Lawrence Sprung, president of Hauppauge, New York-based Mitlin Financial. “They are very well-run, well-oiled machines.
Financial aid decisions for the incoming freshman class are based on 2019 income levels. So, if your family’s finances took a hit during the pandemic, or there was any other change in your financial situation, you can file an appeal for more money.
Vasconcelos said common reasons include:
A job loss.
A hit to your savings since you completed the application.
High out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Support of elderly relative or family overseas.
Extra medical or care expenses for a special needs child.
Private high school tuition for a younger sibling.
Capital gains on stocks in 2019 that was not repeated.
You are no longer receiving the child support you got in 2019.
Parents’ student loan debt.
To file your appeal, go to the school’s website and fill out an official appeal form. If there is no form, email the school’s financial aid office. Explain the change in circumstances and ask for additional aid.
You’ll have to include documentation to support your request, such as a termination or furlough letter, a large medical bill, your W2 or updated bank statements.
“The financial aid offices are very prepared for a big year of financial aid appeals,” Vasconcelos said.
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