College Tuition costs

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Do you know what college cost when you went? Do you know what it costs now where you went? Let's play the game and see what inflation has done. Could you afford it now?

When I went it was $3k/quarter so around $9k/year 10 years ago 2004. Now it is $14.7 or $15k/year. That's tuition alone no books, extras, or living expenses on top of that. I don't know how manageable it would be working full time trying to live and pay $15k tuition. Granted when I went I had some loans but now it seems to be increasing a lot.

I wonder if it keeps going up how do parents afford it?

[KTP]

My wife's college tuition would now be about $50k+ a year, but she went to a Ivy. I think it was $20k to $25k then.

State school for me baby...still it is about $14k a year now. It was about $6k a year 20 years ago.

[MonkeyMama]

My school was $1k per semester in 1998, and is $3k per semester in 2013. From $2k to $6k, per year. I keep an eye on prices of several area schools, just so we can plan ahead and be aware of options and inflation.

Minimum wage has also about doubled, so I don't expect my kids to experience a hugely different playing field than we did. That said, I think it could be harder for them to find employment during college. Jobs were just so abundant when we were in college. But I have another 7 years to see how things shake out.

[bjl584]

Undergrad was about $10,000 per year 1996 thru 2000. That price included room and board and a meal plan.

Grad school was about $40,000 total 2006 thru 2008. That was just tuition costs. I took evening classes and commuted to the school after work.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Actually, I've got to give my school credit for keeping tuition rises low as compared to other institutions.

In 1977, my tuition was $9,000 for the year. According to one calculator that is the equivalent of $34,750 in 2013 dollars.

In reality, their 2013-14 tuition is $39,500. So the expense at this school was more in line with ordinary inflation, rather than the extraordinary inflation colleges generally have had.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I like how people can recall and see what it costs now. Joan that's cool.

[TheKayla]

Graduated about 3 years ago, have a 4-year bachelors, went to an in-state university, took loans out for $70k (included meal plan and dorm for first year, got out of that quick). By the time repayment started, I owed $85k from interest tacked on (after 6 month grace period.)

Three years later and still paying more in interest than on the principal, despite me paying about triple the minimum nearly every month. :/ I did read a statistic once that Iowa is one of the most expensive states to go to school in the US though, of course, after I was all done and had to pay it all back. I often joke 'I should have gone out of state, I would have saved so much money!'

[breathemusic]

My college actually has a table that breaks it down going back to the 90-91 school year. But when I just looked it up, my first year (04-05) tuition + room and board was just shy of $40k. This year (13-14) it was just over $59k. About $10k of that increase happened between my freshman and senior year. Luckily for me they provided me with a TON of financial aid and scholarships so it actually ended up being cheaper for me to go there than to go to a state school.

[NetSkyBlue]

I did read a statistic once that Iowa is one of the most expensive states to go to school in the US though

Really? I graduated from University of Iowa, gosh, 10 years ago (!) I did get several scholarships, and I had 99% of my gen ed done in high school (paid for BY my high school). I took full course loads, 21 credits/semester and did summer & winter courses. I graduated in 2 years, and I paid for half, and my parents paid for half. We each paid about 8 or 9k. That was a decade ago, though.

I think I had to have room & board the first year, but I moved out and paid my own housing & expenses from a part time job the second year.

[MonkeyMama]

I like how people can recall and see what it costs now. Joan that's cool.

If you don't recall, you can look up the data. The "common data set" reveals costs of tuition, related fees and expenses, as well as dorm costs. I don't know how far it goes back, but my alma mater had costs from the years I was in college. Most colleges share this info on their website? I referred back to see how realistic their online figures are. If it was spot on for 15 years ago, then I figure the current dollars are realistic. Of course, a friend of mine just wrote a tuition check for my alma mater so I also had that reality check. She just mentioned something about it a few days ago so it was fresh in my mind.

[disneysteve]

Do you know what college cost when you went? Do you know what it costs now where you went?

I don't know why I remember this but...

Freshman year was $7,600. By senior year it was up to $10,300. I graduated in 1986.

Today, it is $46,660.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DS OMG!!! Wowsa. I know living expenses were pricey in the schools too on top of the tuition costs.

[corn18]

Tuition hasn't changed at my school since 1845. USNA '88. Go Navy!

[TheKayla]

Really? I graduated from University of Iowa, gosh, 10 years ago (!) I did get several scholarships, and I had 99% of my gen ed done in high school (paid for BY my high school). I took full course loads, 21 credits/semester and did summer & winter courses. I graduated in 2 years, and I paid for half, and my parents paid for half. We each paid about 8 or 9k. That was a decade ago, though.

I think I had to have room & board the first year, but I moved out and paid my own housing & expenses from a part time job the second year.

Yup, could have been more recently that it became that way, and it was a state-wide average, so who knows if it even applied to the state schools. I do have above average loans though for college nationwide, and I didn't go on spring breaks breaks, put my books/room/board on loans each year, switch majors constantly, or anything like that, so there must be some truth to it. I went to ISU, so I wouldn't think there'd be that big of a difference between the two of those.

[QuarterMillionMan]

State colleges;


Bachelors degree (1999), total cost for 4 years approx. $4000 (tuition/fees only).


Masters degree (2009), total cost for 2 years approx. $10,000 (tuition/fees only).



Not sure the costs today but the approx. $14,000 spent was well worth the investment.