It should come as no surprise to a parent that the cost of sending a child to college is an expense which continues to rise year over year. The average annual total tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities in 2009-10 are $6,585. Throw in room and board and the total cost climbs to $14,333. This is 6.4% higher than they were in 2007-08. As staggering as this annual increase seems, it is significantly smaller than in preceding years. This 6.4% increase follows increases of 13% in 2003-04, 10% in 2004-05, and 7.1% in 2005-06.
How does the cost at a four-year private college compare? Average total charges, including tuition, room and board, and fees are $34,132 for 2008-09. This is 5.6% higher than last year, and has been the average over the preceding three years.
Come graduation day, the typical parent will have spent almost $58,000 for public universities and $137,000 for private or out-of-state universities.
However, to most Americans the skyrocketing cost of sending a child to college seems to overshadow the long-term benefits of a college education. Numerous studies have been done indicating a direct relationship between the level of education an individual receives and that individual’s earnings potential. These studies show that, monetarily, a college education is an investment that pays off over a lifetime. In 2008, the typical full-time worker with a four-year college degree earned $50,856. This is 65% more than the $30,732 earned by a full-time worker with only a high school diploma. A worker with a master’s degree earned over twice as much, $63,856, as the high school graduate. In fact, the earnings gap for college graduates versus high school graduates is estimated to exceed $1 million over an individual’s lifetime.
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