
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993                   TAG: 9309220077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COLLEGE COSTS OUTPACE INCOME

The cost of higher education continues to outpace income, inflation and financial aid this fall, even as colleges and universities slash services, according to the College Board.

The average tuition, room and board climbed 6 percent to $6,207 at four-year public universities and 5 percent to $15,818 at four-year private colleges, the College Board reported in a survey being released today.

The increases were about the same, or slightly less, than last year's, as competition sharpened for the dwindling number of potential students.

"Colleges have simply come to realize that the very markets they wish to serve could not afford them at the rate of increase they were following," said David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

"People are dropping out," said Tchiyuka Cornelius, a student at City University of New York and president of the U.S. Student Association. "There are people who want to go to college but just can't afford to."

While inflation was 2.8 percent from last fall to this fall, the average tuition and fees at four-year private universities and colleges rose 6 percent to $11,025; room and board brought the total to $15,818. The average cost of two-year private junior colleges went up 7 percent, to $6,175.

Public university tuition rose 8 percent, to $2,527, after two years of double-digit increases fueled primarily by state budget shortfalls; room and board boosted the price to $6,207. The average cost of community and public junior colleges jumped 10 percent for the third straight year, to $1,229.

"The fiscal crisis in the states is not over," said James Appleberry, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "But it's certainly easing up a bit."

Still, 38 percent of public universities have put off making repairs to buildings, 30 percent have capped enrollment, 31 percent have cut the number of courses they offer and 45 percent have left full-time faculty positions unfilled, the association said.

"Public institutions continue to be under great pressure to increase tuition, but I think they're also under great political pressure to hold down prices," said Donald Stewart, president of the College Board.

"What you see is institutions just cutting and slashing, and you're getting to the point where they don't have any more to cut."

by CNB