Average Costs to Top $10,000 at Private Colleges for 1st Time

The average cost of a year at a private college will top $10,000 this fall for the first time, a survey released Thursday by the College Board said.

Average college expenses will go up 6% in the 1986-87 academic year, the sixth straight year that such costs at both private and public institutions will rise faster than the overall inflation rate, the board’s survey of more than 3,400 colleges and universities showed.

The estimates include tuition and fees, room and board and estimated costs for books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses.

Costs to Rise 6%

At four-year private colleges, average costs will rise 6% to $10,199 for resident students and $8,809 for students who commute. Costs at two-year private colleges also will be up an average 6%, to $8,056 for residents and $6,757 for commuters.

The nation’s most expensive school will be tiny, arts-oriented Bennington College in Vermont, where total costs will reach an estimated $18,350.

“Bennington is a school that charges substantial amounts for the program it offers, and no apologies for that,” interim President John Williams II said. He said the high cost is the result of a student-faculty ratio of 8 to 1.

At four-year public colleges, costs will rise an average 5% this fall, to $5,604 for resident students and $4,467 for commuters. At two-year public colleges, costs will go up an average 5%, to $3,768 for commuters.

This fall’s 6% average increase exceeds the overall inflation rate, which has averaged 1.7% in the last 12 months, as measured by the consumer price index.

College costs jumped an average of 7% last year and in 1984-85, 11% in both 1983-84 and 1982-83, and 13% in 1981-82.

The College Board is a private, nonprofit educational association whose members include more than 2,500 colleges and other institutions of learning.