Research Project Essay Excellent
Introduction
It's no secret that financing a college education is getting tougher.
College costs have skyrocketed over the past decade or so, and there's no relief in
sight. Average tuition at four-year colleges will increase 7 percent this school year,
double the rate of inflation. Student aid is not increasing fast enough to plug the
growing gap between tuition and family finances. In addition, there is a growing
number of older students entering college today. These students have families
that they need to support. I know, because I am a family man who has returned
to school. I wish to finish my degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
The only problems I face are financial in nature. It is with this in mind that I set
about this research. The not so simple question: Is financial aid available to older
students, and if so, how do they go about obtaining it?
The Cost Of Education
The cost of higher education varies by type of institution.
Online education and Financial Aid
Lomb memorial drive at RIT
The Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science ...Tuition is highest
at private 4-year institutions, and lowest at public 2-year institutions. The private
4-year colleges nearly quadrupled their average tuition rates between 1975 and
1996. For private 4-year colleges, tuition and fees for the 1995-96 academic year
averaged about $15,400, compared with about $5006 at public 4-year colleges.
The cost of attending an institution of higher education includes not only tuition
and fees, however, but also books and supplies, transportation, personal expenses
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and, sometimes, room and board. Although tuition and fees generally are
substantially lower at public institutions than at private ones, the other student
costs are about the same. According to MS-Encarta94,'the average cost for
tuition, fees, and room and board for the 1995-96 academic year at private 4-year
colleges was about $20,165. At public...