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Back to What to Consider When Choosing a College

 

 

Chart is based on costs of four years of tuition, plus room and board and other costs, not all of which are qualified higher education expenses under Section 529, and assumes an inflation rate of 5.2 percent. Average Student Expenses, National Region, 2001-2002, provided by The College Board, 2001.

If the child in your life is a newborn right now, by the time he or she heads off to college in 2021, it could cost:

          PA College Tuition for ONE YEAR

$48,000 Highly Selective Private College
$45,000  
$40,000  
$35,000 Moderately Selective Private College
$25,000  
$22,000 Public/State-Related
$15,000 PA State University
$10,000  
$5,000 Community College
$2,000  

The above costs are solely for tuition for ONE YEAR. 
The figures do not include housing, food, transportation, books, supplies, fees, etc. which can cost at least $1,000-$5,000 in addition each year.
Something to think about when deciding on on-campus housing is that some colleges offer free housing in the summer and most colleges offer discounted housing if you are in a quad or triple occupancy room rather than a double occupancy room.

Over 4 years you can spend at least this much:

PA State College $50,000
State-Related College $88,000
Moderately Selective Private College $148,000
Highly Selective Private College $192,000

 

The following table (from http://www.finaid.org/loans/) shows the percentage of students borrowing and average cumulative debt per borrower (excluding PLUS Loans) according to type of educational institution.

  Undergraduate Education Debt
Institution Level & Control Percent Borrowing Cumulative Debt
Overall Total (4, 2 and < 2 year) 55.5% $15,766
4-year Total 65.6% $19,202
   4-year Public 61.7% $17,277
   4-year Private Non-Profit 72.8% $21,957
   4-year Private For-Profit 87.3% $28,138
2-year Total 37.4% $9,897
   2-year Public 33.2% $9,387
   2-year Private Non-Profit 69.1% $12,326
   2-year Private For-Profit 90.0% $12,107
< 2-year Total 67.1% $7,271
   < 2-year Public 34.0% $7,243
   < 2-year Private Non-Profit 26.5% $4,854
   < 2-year Private For-Profit 77.3% $7,311

Graduate and professional students borrow even more, with the additional debt for a graduate degree ranging from $27,000 to $114,000.

 
  Average college debt according to USAToday
For undergraduate bachelor of arts degree recipients, by type of college for the 2003-04 academic year:
Private, for profit $24,200
Private, nonprofit $16,000
Public $10,600
Source: CollegeBoard's 2005 Trends in Student Aid