European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Soaring Cost of tuition Are colleges charging what the Market will Bear by Fred u. Hechinger maw York times s College costs in the United slates have risen dramatically in lha Pas i five years questions have Neon raised Over whether the tuition increases Are justified and who is being hurl by them. Secretary of Edwalton William j Bennett has charged Ida i same colleges Aro simply charging what the Market will boar some parents wonder Helhor the Rotter is arc Worth their financial Sac lice. Ludo its Aro becoming morn critical of some of the Laws in what he colleges offer them academically and in living arrangements. Such criticisms were supported in a recent report on undergraduate education by Ernes l Boyer. President Olha Carnegie foundation or the advancement of teaching most important there is grooving concern Over the effects of rising costs on the poor and minority groups for at least five years the increase in what colleges charge has been Aboul twice the level of inflation Public attention has focused on the most selective and expensive private colleges which charge More than $15.000 a year for tuition room and Board. Private colleges below hat level of selectivity and prestige charge considerably less but even their annual tuition and room and Board fees have risen to an estimated average of $9,000. At Public Lour year colleges the equivalent average is estimated at $4,000 to $5,000. Costs at two year College Are considerably lower and the College Beard s Survey suggests that College students who commute from Home can save about $1,200. The colleges explain the recent Steep increases by saying that their physical plants Are in dire need of improvement a tact thai Man students who live in substandard housing will corroborate colleges also Point to the need of make faculty salaries More competitive with those of other professions. They Cile the skyrocketing Cost of science facilities compilers and books they also stress that High tuition paid by those who can afford it covers some of the Cost of tid to less affluent students some observers who defend the tuition increases Challenge assertions that College costs Are cutting More deeply and unfairly into family budgets. Terry w. Har Leof the american Enterprise Institute a research organization in Washington told the chronic pc of higher education thai costs at least at Public institutions have remained remarkably stable in terms of students family incomes. Over the last to years the average Cost of attending Public institutions has remained about 10 percent of family income he said. He conceded thai the bite at selective private universities has grown substantially rising in the past 10 years to 41.8 percent from 33.8 percent of the Erma Bombeck Campus scene for Ai bust i Sayaan the i Neffe to Carigo charges has  Malm median income of Ami ies with in or 19-year-Olds in College. At less selective campuses the increase has been less drastic with the average portion of the family income taken up by College costs ranging today from 22 to 28 percent. Furthermore any comparisons Between the percentage of family income needed to pay for College in years past and now can be deceptive. For example Many More Larr sies today rely on having both patents work olten because of the need to slave off a serious lowering of their Standard of living percentage figures ignore the fact that Many families Are struggling harder merely to stay in place financially in addition other family budget items such As housing have grown disproportionately. Defenders of the increases Point out that Onty 20 percent of All College students Are enrolled in private institutions Yel there is concern that growing financial pressures might sharply reduce the number of such colleges Bennett has charged that the availability of substantial Federal Aid to students encourages colleges to raise their prices but this is not borne out by statistics. In the decade from 1970 to 1980. When Federal student Aid was a its Peak the Rise in Lufton costs was almost 25 percent below the increase in the consumer Price Index. Since then even though student Aid use far More modestly College tuition has if--., Iseff by 77 percent. But the explanations by seme people to up Chi. A the colleges Are no Mere credible. A. Bartlett Ganetti tie Tamer president of Yale University quite properly suggests that parents shout be expected to sacrifice some luxuries such As a second car Toj support their children m High coat colleges but Rich families who can afford to pay a pensive tuition Are not the Issue what is at Issue is thar even Middle income families Are having trouble finding the $9.000 to 115,000 a year needed to Send a child to some of the better colleges. For poor families rising costs even a Puttie institutions can shut off Access to higher education poor and Middle class students May Merit part time to earn some of ther tuition costs but such jobs rarely generate Enouch i income. For Many Grants and Toa rss Are Essen rial also we Ghag Down students from poor families Ith substantial Loans severity Gimis their Choice of careers they Eanni Alf Artl to Enfer Taw paying Fields that provide vital Public service such As teaching of i Cost work. Las year the College Board estimates students borrowed 18 billion under the guaranteed student loan program alone by now those new year s resolutions you made last week Are probably in serious trouble. I never make resolutions on Jan 1.1 find it a Large waste of time to sit Down and make a lot of promises to myself i Don t intent to keep besides i make All my resolutions on dec. 23 that s the Day i make solemn promises to elect some changes in my life beginning that very Day i resolve to put the Extension Cord for the Christmas tree lights in a special place where no one can find i but me. It will be neatly wound around something so that there is a beginning and an end. Ii will be labelled by next year at this time i will have a Tablecloth that fits he table when i is extended. Even it i have to give up personal surgery to get the Money i am sick of putting the cloth All the Way to one end while t sit Al the other with my elbows fanned of on the table during the entire meal. I can t eat this Way speaking of eating i Promise by All that 15 holy that next year i will stitch my lips together the first of december and live on a diet of Bouillon and pureed celery intravenously. I will remember my body is a Temple. Not a food Bank. Divinity fudge is not a religious experience. It s just a bad Choice of name. No More evening up presents for the kids. Ii is Tike culling of the legs of a chair.,. Just when you Tii Ink you be got them ail balanced one Scuta wobbles and you go to work on it. My shopping was finished by the second week of december and i have been adding on a Rufe Here and Here Ever since this is Pas Neely my last trip to the drug store to convince my children the Are loved equally. They re going to have to take my word for it from this Day Forward j will never again Manttan to my monday january 5, 1987 husband the House that has 30 000 lights a team of Reindeer on the roof a sugar Plum tree it i eight dancing fairies on the la an and traffic backed ups