Editorial: College costs out of control

Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.

Parents and students are not the only victims of the rapidly rising cost of a college education.

Society, too, loses when freshmen and sophomores decide against careers such as teaching and nursing.

The modest salaries in those critical fields, many students reason, wouldn't enable them to pay off their college debts in the foreseeable future.

USA Today this week charted the average increase in a student's total annual cost from 10 years ago. That cost at public four-year colleges went up 82 percent, from $7,469 to $13,589. At private colleges the cost rose 67 percent, from $19,360 to $32,307.

At the same time that costs are rising, the paper reported, financial aid increasingly means federal loans instead of grants and scholarships. Because federal loans must be repaid, with interest, students or their parents face substantial debt on graduation.

The trend of rapidly increasing costs for higher education is worrisome because many students could be priced out, for years while they work or possibly for their whole lives.

As USA Today reported, Congress is becoming alarmed by this trend and is working to stem it.

The House Education Committee has passed a bill that would require colleges and universities whose tuitions are rising faster than average to publicly account for the extra costs. The bill would also reward colleges that control costs by increasing their federal aid for low-income students.

Another idea, proposed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is to require colleges to put a greater share of their endowments toward financial aid.

Part of the problem at public colleges is that states in recent years have been budgeting far less for higher education, forcing a rise in tuitions and fees. We'd like to see this trend reversed.

And part of the problem at all schools is that federal Pell grants have taken a big hit. Awarded to students based on their academic standing and family income, the grants do not have to be repaid.

Unfortunately, under Bush administration management, the grants haven't kept pace with rising college costs and the income-eligibility formula was changed, making fewer students eligible.

If states renewed their commitment to higher education and Congress could reinvigorate Pell grants, millions of students would benefit.