by Carolyn Scheuler

College tuition rises for economic reasons depending on the type of college and can impact a STA student’s college search. At private and four-year colleges, the cost of tuition increases for many reasons. However, the most interesting cause for the rise in college tuition at a four-year college is to be more competitive with other big-name colleges.

According to an article in The New York Times, Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, brainstormed ideas in early 2000 on how to attract more applicants after noticing a decrease in their enrollment. Their solution to this problem was to raise their tuition by 17.6 percent. To soften the blow to this increase, Ursinus also raised their financial aid to around 20 percent and offered every incoming student their own laptop. After raising their tuition, Ursinus received 200 more applications than the previous year.

According to STA academic and college counselor Debi Hudson, Ursinus College probably had other reasons to bump up their tuition costs. For example, colleges want to ensure students their residence halls will include all of the amenities. Students look at upgrades such as better equipped recreation centers and private bathrooms to see if they would be comfortable living at the college. Schools take this into consideration when deciding what needs to be changed at their establishment.

“I think you see a lot of the tuition increases, one, because of technology needs,” Hudson said. “And [colleges] see some schools offering [different upgrades], so they feel they need to catch up in order to get those students.”

In public or community colleges, the cost of tuition has been rising because state support has been going down. According to Metropolitan Community College’s vice chancellor of academic affairs and technology Paul Long, this can later lead to other financial problems.

“The health care cost for our employees is very expensive,” Long said. “There are lots of cost factors; technology is very expensive. So all those factors play a role [in the rise of tuition].”

The rise in college tuition has a direct impact on STA students looking at colleges, but not always in the way the Ursinus example might suggest.

“I’m pretty lucky,” senior Carlisle Sutton, who is applying to University of San Francisco, University of Kansas and University of Dayton among others, said. “If I get into a school and don’t get a scholarship, I think my parents can pay for it.”

As STA juniors and seniors continue their college searches, they keep in mind the steady rise of college tuition as well as a number of other variables.

“[Students should consider] everything: size, location, cost, scholarships, majors, spirit, and community,” Hudson said. “The list goes on.”