college cost

At least once a year, an article about target numbers for college savings are published on major media websites. Recent articles include this one on NYtimes.com, this one on usatoday.com, and this one on reuters.com. A new one came out just this week on Foxbusiness.com. As one can see, this is common territory. But, here at College Parents of America, we think that such articles serve as helpful reminder of how difficult it can be to project out college costs and figuring out your needed amount of savings.

    Every year, the U.S. Department of Education releases their Digest of Education Statistics. The most recent release, Digest of Education Statistics: 2012, came out last month. These statistics reveal much about major trends in college enrollment, achievement, costs, and outcomes. Below are a list of highlights, key figures and a handful of helpful tables. 

  pic (cc-license) from flickr user John Cooper With the arrival of the new year, it's great to think big... and big ideas already abound in this still-young year. Multiple colleges have announced that they will slash tuition. UC Davis is trying to showcase unique student achievements through a 'badging' system. Gallup and Purdue University are teaming up to measure student outcomes post-graduation. And a senate bill seeks more college accountability for student loans. But here's a big idea you may not have heard about: making public college tuition free for all students.

   pic from flickr user 401(K)2012  As your college-bound family considers a college, there are many considerations. Job placement rate, quality of program, and graduation rate should always be considered. However, for most families, finances play an important role in college choice. Recent research confirms this, showing that families are coping with rising college costs by more frequently having students choose to live at home, take online classes or graduate early.   Comparing the cost of schools before acceptance can be tricky. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that scholarships and grants may not be known until after the acceptance process is complete. However, for those who wish to ballpark possible pre-grant and pre-scholarship costs, there are quite a few ways to go about it. Here are a few that College Parents of America like:

   Earlier today, the White House released a fact sheet detailing the need to curb college costs and some proposed methods that may achieve such a goal.  

(photo from flickr user quinn.anya) 2013 College Student Pulse, a new survey jointly released by Seventeen & Citi on college finances, revealed some very interesting information about college students working and paying for the many costs of college.

 photo by flickr user 401(K) 2013 

  (picture from flickr user thomashawk) 

We fundamentally believe in the value of higher education to advance the quality of the lives of the students, families and communities where they eventually serve. 

Everybody is talking about the rising cost of college tuition and the resulting student loan debt that America’s college students are accumulating.  Parents and students are wringing their hands and complaining loudly, while many politicians are placing blame and passing the buck.