Secretary of Education Warns Colleges to Rein In Their Costs : Tuition: Cut programs if necessary, Lauro Cavazos tells them. No institution can do everything well, he says.

Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos Monday urged the nation’s colleges and universities to make “tough choices” to cut escalating expenses, including eliminating some programs and courses, if necessary.

Failure to curb tuition increases will put higher education out of the reach of many worthy students, he said.

Cavazos’ warning came as the department released reports targeting prime areas for cost savings, including reductions in administrative costs.

“If we are to keep higher education affordable, college and universities are going to have to make serious efforts to control costs,” he said. “Each institution must identify its central mission and focus and then allocate resources accordingly with the understanding that no single institution can do everything well.”

The department said that college tuition rose at a rate of 8% a year throughout the 1980s. The average tuition at independent four-year institutions is now about $9,400 per year, compared to about $1,800 at public colleges and universities.

Cavazos said that many disadvantaged Americans are still able to attend less expensive institutions through financial assistance but that the costs at some colleges have become so high many students are deterred from applying.

“Misperceptions may discourage students and families who are trying to prepare for college. They may think that the situation is hopeless, that they will not be able to afford a college education,” he said.

He said high school guidance counselors had failed to adequately inform students about financial aid programs. He cited a General Accounting Office study which found that only 12% of high school sophomores were aware of key financial aid programs for college study.

Cavazos said that many colleges so far have done little to cut costs, concentrating instead on redistributing the burden among those enrolled and on exploiting some families’ willingness to pay higher charges.