The College Board released new data saying even though costs at four-year public colleges are rising more slowly than they have in years past, they are still outpacing inflation. On a slightly more encouraging note: The rise in costs at two-year public colleges is nearly in line with inflation.
Still, inflation-adjusted costs at four-year public colleges have grown 35 percent in the past five years.
A press release on the report said:
- The increase in average tuition and fees for two-year public colleges in 2006-07 was just slightly above the inflation rate. At all institutions, the net price -- the average price students pay after grants and tax benefits are considered -- is significantly lower than the published price.
- Total student aid increased by 3.7 percent to $134.8 billion in 2005-06, but total federal grant aid failed to keep pace with inflation.
- Even without factoring in inflation, the average Pell Grant per recipient fell by $120. [...]
- Published tuition and fee charges at four-year private colleges average $22,218 in 2006-07. The average total tuition, fee, room, and board charges at private four-year colleges and universities are $30,367.
- Full-time students enrolled in private colleges and universities pay on average about $13,200 in net tuition and fees after grant aid and tax benefits. Because of growth in grant aid and tax benefits, the net price students pay has increased more slowly over the past decade than the published price.
- Published tuition and fee charges at two-year public colleges average $2,272, [or] $90 more than last year. The 4.1 percent increase is less than one-half of one percentage point above the rate of inflation. After grants and tax benefits are considered, full-time students enrolled in public two-year colleges and universities pay less than $100 on average in net tuition and fees. After adjusting for inflation, the net price students actually pay is lower in 2006-07 than it was a decade earlier.
To learn more about some of the specific areas covered by the report, see the following releases.
The Washington Post ran a story about the report on Tuesday.
College Pays
The College Board also released new estimates about how much more money college graduates earn [PDF] than people who only finished high school.
- In 2005, median earnings for bachelor's degree holders between the ages of 25 and 34 working full-time were $13,900 higher than median earnings of high school graduates working full-time. For workers between the ages of 45 and 54, the median earnings gap was $22,900.
- The earnings premium for college education has increased over time:
- Among men, the earnings premium for a college degree increased from 19 percent in 1975, to 37 percent in 1985, 56 percent in 1995 and 63 percent in 2005.
- The earnings premium for women is larger -- 70 percent in 2005. It was 47 percent in 1985, but has not increased since 1995. [...]
- Higher earnings are only part of the benefits college-educated parents pass on to their children.
- Among parents in the same income brackets, those with higher levels of education are more likely to be saving for college when their children are in high school.
- College graduates are also more likely to talk with their children about current events and to attend religious or cultural events with them.
The "Freshman 15"
It is not a myth that college freshmen often put on weight. The old rule of thumb was that a freshman added 15 pounds in his or her first year away from home. New studies show that it might not be 15 pounds, but it easily could be five to seven pounds, followed by another two or three in the sophomore year.
The Associated Press reported:
Previous studies were small, looked at weight gain only in the first semester, and involved hardly any male students. ... [T]wo new studies fill those gaps.
The first, funded by the federal government, involved 382 students -- 40 percent of them male -- at an unidentified private school in the Northeast. Weight was measured four times -- at the beginning of the school year in September, at the end of the first semester in December, after the holiday break in January, and at the end of the freshman year in May.
"Over the year, we found that males gained 5.6 pounds and females gained 3.6 pounds, with the large majority of that weight gained in the first semester," said Elizabeth Lloyd-Richardson, the Brown researcher who led both studies.
One out of six gained 10 or more pounds during freshman year, and 6 percent gained the "Freshman 15" or more.
Men tended to gain weight sharply in the first semester and then more gradually after that, while women gained a lot at first and then tended to plateau, she said.
At the end of the freshman year, more than 17 percent were overweight or obese, compared to only 14 percent at the start.
The second study involved 907 students, 55 percent of them male, at an unidentified public university in the Midwest and was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Students were weighed four times[,] as in the previous study, but also at the end of their sophomore year.
Similar to the first study, students gained an average of 7.8 pounds during the freshman year. More than one-third gained 10 pounds or more, and one-fifth piled on 15 or more.
Things got worse the next year. Males were on average 9.5 pounds heavier, and females, 9.2 pounds heavier, than when they started college.
How did the "Freshman 15" come to be such a widely feared phenomenon? See this story that The New York Times ran in August for some context.
Experts say there are several reasons college freshmen eat so much. They might be so busy with studies and new lifestyle changes that they ditch old exercise routines. Sad and lonesome freshmen might find comfort in food. And hectic schedules lead to eating on the run and late night snacking, not to mention beer drinking.
When I moved away to college, I went from eating, say, an Instant Breakfast drink every morning, to eating all the eggs, bacon and pancakes the school cafeteria would serve me. School nutritionists say now is the time of year they start hearing from students who have begun to pack on the pounds. The students are coming to them for help.
And just as complaints swell, the most unapologetically food-focused of all American holidays pops up. When it comes to eating, lounging around and gaining weight, every weekend of a college freshman's year is not created equal. Watch for students to fatten up over the Thanksgiving holiday.
USA Today said:
Students aren't only packing on pounds at college, they're plumping up when they go home for Thanksgiving, according to a new study presented Sunday at the annual meeting of The Obesity Society.
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma in Norman weighed 94 college students -- freshmen through graduate students -- before Thanksgiving break, within a week after they came back and again in mid-January.
Findings: Overweight college students gained slightly more than 2 pounds during Thanksgiving break, while normal-weight kids gained a little less than half a pound.
By mid-January, heavy students hadn't lost those extra 2 pounds, but the normal-weight students were back to their original weight.
When people are offered a lot of food choices over the holidays, they tend to eat a lot more, says David Fields, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.
Plus, "many students just want to relax and recharge over the holiday, so they spend a lot of time sitting around," says Holly Hull, the nutrition researcher who conducted the study.
The Dove Campaign
The people who make Dove soap have mounted an interesting campaign to try to help girls and women build self-esteem. I am really struck by a film posted on their Web site that reveals how stunning models get to look so stunning.
I would like to know if the commercial is accurate. Is that how it's really done? You should note that the film has attracted more than 9,000 responses, and when I watched it last Friday, more than 500 people were on Dove's site with me.
This message clearly has traction.
Video Nation
My old friend, reporter Steve Crump of WBTV in Charlotte, N.C., dropped me this note about a story his station did. It makes me wonder how long it will take before concert venues and sporting events start to confiscate or ban camera phones. Steve wrote:
I was at a recent Eric Clapton concert, and noticed when the band started everyone had their camera phones out and hours later the video makes it onto YouTube.com.
Despite posted warnings banning video cameras and recording equipment at major events, why are these phones not covered[?]
We checked in with the Carolina Panthers. Despite the recent NFL ruling regarding affiliates now being limited at the games, they didn't have a policy against cell phone cams. That was also the case at Lowes Motor Speedway and the Charlotte Bobcats arena.
YouTube [has] plenty of footage from other major sporting events.
Late last week, YouTube removed 30,000 Japanese TV programs, movies and music videos from its site after The Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers complained.
Reading to the Dog
I got this note from Jessica Alaimo at the Sun Journal in Lewiston, Maine:
Here's a story idea for you. I found it at one of our elementary schools.
There's a national organization that encourages kids to read by having them read to dogs. The students feel like someone (the dog) is listening, but at the same time they know the dog won't criticize them if they miss a word. It was really fascinating going into the school and watching this take place.
Here's a link to the organization.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting
is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials
from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis.
When the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
The Dog Reading program that Al mentioned is really interesting....
