Average cost at Mass. private colleges is tops in US
But many students don't pay full price
The average cost of an education at a four-year private college was more expensive in Massachusetts than anywhere else in the country, according to a report released yesterday.
The cost of tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year averaged $32,592 in the Bay State, edging out Connecticut, where the cost was $31,914, and far outstripping the national average of $25,143, according to the College Board's annual "Trends in College Pricing" report.
There was a silver lining: The tuition rate for four-year private schools in Massachusetts rose 5.3 percent from $30,941 last year, a smaller increase than the national average of 5.9 percent. The cost of attending public institutions rose 3.8 percent to $8,184.
Private colleges in California, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., also topped the $30,000 mark, while the average tuition at private institutions in Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, and North Dakota came in at below $15,000.
The figures used by the College Board for its comparison did not include financial aid or tax benefits. Full-time students at private four-year institutions receive an average of $10,200 in grants and tax breaks, according to the report. The figures also do not factor in room and board.
Richard Doherty, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, said many students end up attending private colleges in Massachusetts at lower cost with the help of financial aid.
The 59 private colleges and universities that are members of the association provided $375 million in aid last year to financially eligible Massachusetts residents, Doherty said, contending that students should not be alarmed by the sticker price.
"The private colleges are able to, despite their perceived published price . . . provide access and affordability," Doherty said.
Doherty said the fact that prices increased more slowly in the Bay State than they did nationally shows that schools are "really trying to put the brakes on increases in the cost of higher education."
Students at local private colleges and universities voiced concern about the rising cost of college in the midst of a nationwide financial crisis.
"It definitely raises a lot of concerns," said Ashley Cote, a Northeastern University student in her final year. "I worry about it."
"Trying to work part-time, or full-time in some people's cases, becomes tough. And balancing classes," she said.
Cote, a criminal justice major, works part time at
"I'm eventually looking at grad schools, which again raises some concern of how I can pay for two to four more years of higher education," she said. 