Be Aware Of The Upcoming College Tuition Hikes!
The year 2009 just began and already most of the nation’s colleges are considering dramatic tuition hikes this coming fall.
Tuition rates have been increasing at an alarming rate over the past 20 years. This is raising concerns that middle and lower-income families will either be priced out of the market, or end up in serious debt to get a college education.
During tough economic times, state colleges and universities have historically proven to be easy targets when budgets must be trimmed. As financial support from the state is withdrawn, schools have been forced to raise tuition to balance their budgets.
Furthermore, states have been pouring more and more resources into elder health care, particularly Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides medical services to the poor. Today, Medicaid represents about 20 percent of the average state budget and is a larger percentage than all elementary and secondary education. As a result, higher-education funding often finds itself crowded out by other priorities.
While this problem isn’t a new one – it’s growing more critical. The current economic crisis has accentuated the lack of state funding for education. Today, many states are in dire need of revenue just to meet their own payroll, let alone provide funding subsidies to the colleges.
All this means that students may have to pick up an even higher percentage of the tuition tab this fall. If this happens, many parents could be forced to access their retirement funds to send their kids to college, even though many have seen their 401(k) drop in half over the past year.
If you are sending your children to college in the next one to four years, you need to develop a financial game plan NOW. We can help! Contact our office and we’ll help you develop a strategy to pay for college, without robbing your retirement to do so.
If you have any questions about the information contained in this newsletter, or any questions about college funding in general, please contact our office.
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