WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Report: State colleges too costly for many students (Hartford-AP) _ The state's public colleges have become less affordable in the 1990s and even Connecticut's modestly priced two-year schools are out of the reach of some students who receive financial aid, according to a new report. Although the state Legislature froze tuition at the state's public colleges last fall, costs continued to grow at a faster pace than family income, the study released Wednesday by the state Department of Higher Education found. Tuition and fees have more than doubled at the University of Connecticut, Connecticut State University and the two-year colleges since 1989, the report said. In the 1998-99 school year, the cost of attending UConn was $10,874 for in-state undergraduates living on campus. The cost of the year at CSU was $9,085. Tuition and fees at community-technical colleges were $1,814. "More and more Connecticut residents cannot afford to pay the asking price for a college degree," the report said. The findings are similar to those in a report last fall by The College Board, which reported that college costs were making it hard for low-income families across the nation and forcing record numbers of students to turn to loans. The Legislature has significantly increased scholarship money for state residents, allocating this year about $16 million to help students attend private colleges and more than $11 million for students at public schools. But state higher education officials want to see larger allocations along with an expansion of the Capitol Scholarship Program, which aids needy students who are in the top 20 percent of their class. The report cited the relatively small size of the state's public colleges and faculty and staff salaries for the rise in costs. Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Report: State colleges too costly for many students
(Hartford-AP) _ The state's public colleges have become less affordable in the 1990s and even Connecticut's modestly priced two-year schools are out of the reach of some students who receive financial aid, according to a new report.

Although the state Legislature froze tuition at the state's public colleges last fall, costs continued to grow at a faster pace than family income, the study released Wednesday by the state Department of Higher Education found.

Tuition and fees have more than doubled at the University of Connecticut, Connecticut State University and the two-year colleges since 1989, the report said.

In the 1998-99 school year, the cost of attending UConn was $10,874 for in-state undergraduates living on campus. The cost of the year at CSU was $9,085. Tuition and fees at community-technical colleges were $1,814.

"More and more Connecticut residents cannot afford to pay the asking price for a college degree," the report said.

The findings are similar to those in a report last fall by The College Board, which reported that college costs were making it hard for low-income families across the nation and forcing record numbers of students to turn to loans.

The Legislature has significantly increased scholarship money for state residents, allocating this year about $16 million to help students attend private colleges and more than $11 million for students at public schools.

But state higher education officials want to see larger allocations along with an expansion of the Capitol Scholarship Program, which aids needy students who are in the top 20 percent of their class.

The report cited the relatively small size of the state's public colleges and faculty and staff salaries for the rise in costs.

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