Tuition Up an Average 12% at Public Colleges : Education: College Board study reports the first double-digit increase since ’83. Private schools up 7%.

The recession and state budget woes across the country took their toll on college education bills this year, sending average tuition and fees up 12% at four-year public schools, according to a College Board study released today.

Public colleges and universities haven’t had average double-digit increases in tuition since 1983.

Four-year private schools, under public pressure and government scrutiny to limit price increases, averaged 7% tuition increases for the 1991-92 school year, the report said. That jump was one percentage point below last year’s but still significantly higher than the 4.4% increase in the consumer price index for the year ending in July, when most tuitions were set.

Students at public four-year schools this year are paying on average $2,137 for tuition and fees, compared to the $10,017 average at private four-year colleges and more than $15,000 at the most elite private schools. Those figures do not include room, board, books and transportation, which average an additional $5,447 for residential students at four-year public schools and $6,275 for those at private schools.

Education analysts predict continuing budget troubles and hefty fee hikes at many public institutions next year, stirring fears that financial aid will not keep up with the needs of low- and middle-income students.

“You hear a lot of rhetoric from a lot of states that students shouldn’t worry, that financial aid will cover the increases,” said Morton Owen Schapiro, chairman of the economics department at USC and an expert in college financing. But he predicted a reduction in available financial aid at some state schools.

Fee increases at California’s public universities far exceeded the national average. Facing cuts in state support, the University of California hiked its basic education fees for state residents by 40%, to $2,274, while the Cal State system went up 20% to $936, not including charges required by individual campuses. Other large increases at state schools include 59% at State University of New York, to $2,150; 32% at the University of Oregon, to $2,598, and 26% at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, to $4,698.

Many educators expected the double-digit increases this year because of state budget cuts, said Donald M. Stewart, president of the College Board, the national consortium of schools that is best known for sponsoring the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

“Ironically, the nation is cutting funds for higher education at a time when its need for a well-educated work force is growing,” Stewart added.

Martin Nemko, an Oakland-based education consultant who has written a guidebook about state universities, said those schools are “becoming less and less of a bargain.” He fears a decline in quality as teacher layoffs make it harder for students to enroll in classes. So he has begun to steer more California youngsters toward private schools if they can afford it or are likely to receive enough aid.

During the recession of the early 1980s, state universities and colleges experienced large tuition hikes, peaking at about 20% in 1982, the College Board said. Those increases dropped below 10% in 1984 and remained below that figure until this year.

For the past eight years, the rate of increases at public colleges was below that at private colleges. But this year, the pattern switched.

Private schools are making “heroic efforts” to keep costs down and become “even more efficient, productive and competitive,” said Richard F. Rosser, president of the National Assn. of Independent Colleges and Universities. As a result, he said, tuition hikes have slowed from 9% two years ago to 8% last year and 7% this year.

Other experts contend that public concerns may be forcing private schools to hold down tuition hikes. Another influence may be the federal government’s investigation into alleged collusion among colleges in tuition-setting and the awarding of scholarships. Facing antitrust violations, eight Ivy League schools agreed last May not to work together in determining financial aid.

“It’s good they are showing greater restraint than last year and greater restraint than two years ago,” said Chester Finn, a professor of education and public policy at Vanderbilt University and former assistant secretary of education in the Reagan Administration. But he noted that private tuition hikes have outstripped inflation for more than a decade, and he compared private colleges to a driver who travels 95 m.p.h. and then slows to 82 m.p.h. “It’s progress, but it’s still way above the speed limit,” Finn said.

The College Board survey showed that, including tuition, fees, room and board, the most expensive schools in the nation include Bennington College in Vermont, $23,200; Sarah Lawrence College in New York state, $23,150; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $22,230; Yale University, $22,200; Wellesley College in Massachusetts, $21,928, and Smith College, also in Massachusetts, $21,870. The most expensive California schools include Pepperdine University, $21,300; Pitzer College, $21,298; USC, $21,281, and Stanford University, $21,262.

College Board officials stressed that students should not be scared away from higher education by such figures. Tuition and fees for three-quarters of the four-year private colleges are below $10,315, the report showed. Furthermore, the most expensive schools often have the most financial aid available.

Juan Yniguez, vice president of research at the Assn. of Independent California Colleges and Universities, noted that 70% of the students at the 66 schools in his group receive aid. That aid, including grants, loans and jobs, usually covers from 25% to 75% of their costs, he added.

The College Board study was based on responses from 2,242 schools. Included were two-year public colleges, which averaged a 13% increase in tuition and fees to $1,022, and two-year private schools, which showed a 6% hike to $5,290. Room and board at all schools rose an average of 6%, to $3,351 at four-year public schools and $4,386 at four-year private schools.

Rising Costs

Here are the average increases in college tuition and fees nationally for the last five years, not including room and board:

4-YEAR COLLEGES YEARS PUBLIC PRIVATE *1991-’92 12% 7% *1990-’91 7% 8% *1989-’90 7% 9% *1988-’89 5% 9% *1987-’88 6% 8%

SOURCE: The College Board, New York

The Cost of Going to College

Here are the costs for tuition and mandatory fees at selected colleges around the country for this year compared to last year. The costs do not include room and board. (Schools placed in order based on percent change in costs.)

COLLEGE ‘90-’91 ‘91-’92 % CHANGE *UCLA $1,685 $2,336 +38.6% *UC Davis $1,780 $2,430 +36.5% *Univ. of Mass., Amherst $3,728 $4,698 +26% *Cal State Long Beach $890 $1,051 +18% *Univ. of Texas, Austin $934 $1,100 +17.7% *San Francisco State $896 $1,052 +17.4% *Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor $3,486 $3,830 +9.8% *Bennington College $17,790 $19,440 +9.2% *Univ. of Notre Dame $12,390 $13,505 +8.9% *Yale Univ. $15,180 $16,300 +7.3% *Cornell Univ. $15,164 $16,214 +6.9% *USC $14,378 $15,300 +6.4% *Pepperdine Univ. $14,310 $15,230 +6.4% *Stanford Univ. $14,280 $15,102 +5.7%

SOURCE: The College Board, New York; individual schools

Compiled by Times editorial researcher Tracy Thomas