Question of the Month
April
2007
How do Midwestern
states compare in regard to tuition rates for public
colleges/universities?
Nationwide, tuition and fees at public
two- and four-year colleges and universities have increased faster
than the rate of inflation over the past 25 years. Many states,
hampered by tight budgets in recent years, have cut higher-education
appropriations, leading campuses to increase tuition and mandatory
fees. Consequently, families’ ability to afford college education
for their children has been eroding. Further, the amount of aid
available to those least able to pay for college has not kept pace
with inflation or rising tuition rates.
Over the past several years, the cost
of education at public universities and colleges in the Midwest has
risen faster than in the nation as a whole, according to a report by
the Midwestern Higher Education Compact (www.mhec.org).
In 2001, tuition and fees at 20 select Midwestern public research
institutions were 4.4 percent higher than the national average. By
2006, the gap had increased to 12.4 percent.
A similar trend has occurred among
public comprehensive universities and two-year colleges. Average
resident undergraduate tuition and fees at universities in the Midwest
were 6.8 percent higher than the national average in 2001, with the
gap rising to 11.6 percent by 2006. At two-year colleges, average
tuition and fees in the Midwest were 15.3 percent higher than the
average nationwide in 2001, with the difference growing to 17 percent
by 2006.
One way of evaluating the impact of
these trends is to measure the percentage of family income required to
support one year of college attendance after accounting for
scholarship and grant aid (excluding student loans). Looking at this
measurement, the cost of higher education in the Midwest is lower than
the national average.
For two-year institutions in the
Midwest, 23.5 percent of the average annual family income was needed
to support one year of attendance in 2006, compared with the national
average of 24 percent.
Two-year colleges in Kansas were
the most affordable in the region at 19.9 percent, followed closely by
Nebraska (20.8 percent) and Wisconsin (20.9 percent),
while colleges in Ohio were the most expensive (nearly 30
percent).
For four-year schools in the Midwest,
30.4 percent of average family income was needed for one year of
attendance (the national average was 30.7 percent). Again, Ohio’s
institutions were the region’s most expensive (42.2 percent), while
the most affordable were in Minnesota (25.6 percent), Wisconsin
(25.9 percent), Kansas (26.6 percent) and South Dakota (26.9
percent).
|
State |
Cost (2006-'07) |
Increase over last 5 years |
| Illinois |
$7,210 |
71.1% |
| Indiana |
$6,643 |
68.3% |
| Iowa |
$6,112 |
77.7% |
| Kansas |
$3,771 |
55.6% |
| Michigan |
$6,887 |
48.6% |
| Minnesota |
$5,656 |
58.8% |
| Nebraska |
$4,479 |
53.6% |
| North Dakota |
$4,882 |
67.8% |
| Ohio |
$8,007 |
58.3% |
| South Dakota |
$5,351 |
44.5% |
| Wisconsin |
$5,793 |
63.0% |
| Midwest average |
$5,793 |
60.2% |
| U.S. average |
$5,192 |
53.4% |
For
more information on this or any other public policy issue, please call
630-925-1922 or complete the online
form for research services.
Return
to Question of the Month
For more information, contact:
CSG Midwest
