Higher Education : Average U.S. College Tuition Jumps 7%-9%; More Schools Top $20,000

The average cost of attending a four-year college or university in the United States will jump between 7% and 9% this autumn, according to a national survey released today by the College Board.

The tuition hikes significantly outpaced overall inflation for the ninth consecutive year and mean that annual education bills of more than $20,000 are becoming more common.

At private four-year schools, the average tuition and fees will total $8,737, up 9% from last year, while those costs at public institutions will average $1,694, up 7%. Room and board will average $3,460, up about 6%, and other costs such as transportation and books will add another $1,800, according to the study by the organization known for its college entrance examinations.

Critics complain that higher education should control costs better. They question why increases in college tuition are not more in line with the 5.2% rise in the national consumer price index for the school year ending in June.

The survey and such criticism attracted special interest this week as the federal Justice Department confirmed that its antitrust division is investigating tuition-setting and financial aid practices at about 20 prestigious colleges and universities, primarily in the East. The schools say they have long shared information about scholarships to prevent bidding wars and educators deny any collusion.

University officials stress that salaries and benefits, their largest expenses, rise faster than the index of goods and services measured by the consumer price index. In addition, they say that about half of all college students receive some form of financial aid, whether scholarships or loans or work-study jobs.

“Faculty salaries did not keep pace with inflation in the ‘70s and early ‘80s,” said Hans Giesecke, marketing and research director for the Assn. of Independent California Colleges and Universities. “Most of our member institutions are trying to make up for that.”

Charles Sykes, author of “ProfScam,” a recent book highly critical of academia, rejects that argument and accuses universities of creating wasteful Pentagon-like bureaucracies.

“It’s absolutely amazing. After a while you wonder whether there is a limit to the chutzpah of higher education in asking for more,” he said during a telephone interview from his Milwaukee home. He said students may soon revolt against further increases.

Among the most expensive colleges in the nation are Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where tuition, fees, room and board will total $19,980; Bennington College in Vermont, $19,975; Brandeis University in Massachusetts, $19,970; and Barnard College in New York, $19,952. Other expenses, including books and transportation, will push costs at these schools well over $20,000.

In California, the survey found, the most expensive bills for tuition, fees, room and board will be at Stanford University, $19,164; Pepperdine University, $18,730; USC, $18,728; Pitzer College, $18,672; and Scripps College, $18,440.

The price issue is so sensitive that the College Board broke its tradition of listing the top 10 most expensive schools and refused to provide reporters the entire national school-by-school results. However, it did release the California figures to The Times and, upon special request, provided numbers about a few Eastern schools that topped the national list in recent years. A College Board spokeswoman said that the press in the past distorted the issue by concentrating on the higher end of costs.

At Bennington College, which has a student body of about 600, spokesman David Scribner attributed the high price tag to the cost of small classes, which allow lots of contact with professors. “We may be expensive, but it’s worth it,” he said. “I don’t feel defensive about this and the college doesn’t.” Last year, 53% of Bennington students received a grant from the school, averaging $9,600, Scribner added in a telephone interview.

Paul Ranslow, vice president of admissions and college relations at Pitzer College in Claremont, said independent colleges are worried about what he called “bifurcation” in the student body: more affluent students whose families can afford tuition and more low-income students who receive large scholarships but fewer middle-class ones. That has been caused in part by federal and state aid not keeping up with costs and a shift from government grants to loans, he and other education officials said.

Asked about cutting expenses, Ranslow speculated that the 700-student school could increaseclass size, freeze faculty pay, defer maintenance, stop buying computers and trim scholarships. “But we find all that untenable,” he stated.

The strength and relative bargain costs of California’s public universities make the situation more troublesome for some independent schools here. Education fees this year at the University of California will be $1,660, up 3%, but slightly below the national average for four-year public institutions; at Cal State campuses, fees are up 3.6% to $708. Community college fees here remain $100, well below the national average of $842 for public two-year schools. Room and board at California state universities average about $4,200.

The gap between the cost of private and public education in California can be bridged up to $5,250 by Cal Grants, the state scholarships. Nevertheless, the California private schools have seen a drop in the overall number of freshmen from California and are recruiting out of state more than in the past, according to the independent colleges’ association.

Donald M. Stewart, president of the College Board, urged students and their families to look hard for financial aid and cautioned them against choosing a college by just price. “Despite annual increases in college charges, students and parents should realize that a college education continues to be within reach of virtually every qualified student,” Stewart wrote in the survey report, which included information from 1,892 institutions.

In response to the survey, U.S. Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos promised Wednesday to work to ensure that high tuition does not prevent young people from attending college. “But I cannot do it alone,” Cavazos said in a prepared statement. “Every leader in higher education must make holding costs down a priority.”

Richard F. Rosser, president of the National Assn. of Independent Colleges and Universities, warned that the costs of a college education would continue to rise until the federal and state governments, businesses, foundations and alumni “assume a more balanced share of the necessary funding.”

One exception to the trend is Lambuth College, a Methodist institution of 767 students in Jackson, Tenn. The school claims to be the only four-year private liberal arts college in the nation to not increase tuition for the last four years. Freezing tuition at $3,986, along with more recruiting, cost-cutting and fund-raising, helped Lambuth emerge from a crisis of declining enrollment and deficits, officials said.

However, Lambuth spokeswoman Cindy Benson conceded that tuition probably will rise next year. “The costs we deal with are just like those at all the other colleges,” she said in an interview Wednesday.

THE COST OF ATTENDING PRIVATE COLLEGES

The 15 most expensive colleges and universities in California for the upcoming school year, according to a survey by the College Board.

INSTITUTION TUITION ROOM TOTAL & FEES & BOARD Stanford University $13,569 $5,595 $19,164 Pepperdine University $13,210 $5,520 $18,730 USC $13,446 $5,282 $18,728 Pitzer College $14,282 $4,390 $18,672 Scripps College $12,890 $5,550 $18,440 Pomona College $13,130 $5,200 $18,330 Harvey Mudd College $13,040 $5,290 $18,330 Occidental College $13,044 $4,860 $17,904 California Institute of Technology $12,489 $5,025 $17,514 Claremont McKenna College $12,900 $4,550 $17,450 University of the Pacific $12,772 $4,598 $17,370 Mills College $12,205 $5,100 $17,305 University of Redlands $12,090 $4,740 $16,830 Whittier College $11,672 $4,300 $15,972 Chapman College $11,450 $4,100 $15,550