On the same day that President Obama released his College Scorecard to help students and their families compare institutions, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities unveiled a data-packed scorecard of its own to show how favorably public higher education stacks up against its private nonprofit and for-profit counterparts.
The 12-page report compares the average list prices of public universities ($8,655), for-profit institutions ($15,172), and private universities ($29,056), and describes what public-university leaders are doing to control costs at a time of declining government support and rising tuition.
The report also compares the average debt of students who borrowed money to attend public universities ($22,000) and private, four-year institutions ($28,100), and touts the economic advantages of a college diploma.
The most startling assertion of the chart- and fact-filled report may be this: “The average annual cost to care for an infant in a child-care center was higher than one year’s in-state tuition and related fees at a four-year public college in 35 states and the District of Columbia.”
Don’t send your babies to day care, Bottom Line readers. Send them to State U. It’s cheaper.
