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Introduction It's no secret that financing a college education is getting tougher. 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 infl ....

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.... 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 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 t ....