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“Ew. That’s a lot of money, isn’t it?” said Ashley Wyman, senior at Grand View.

“Well, I didn’t know that. I just try not to worry about it. That seems higher than I thought though,” said Brett Norris, junior at GV.

These are the reactions of GV students when reminded that their tuition increases each year by about 4.1 percent.

When confronted with this, students are angry, frustrated and disappointed, and most of their reaction is justifiable. However, there might be a few points affecting tuition increase that aren’t completely taken into consideration. That is why we talked to experts and did some research on what really goes on with tuition prices, why they change and why they actually might be worth it in the long run.

Now & Then

Today, the average cost of getting a higher education is more than twice the amount our generation’s parents paid to attend college.

The average amount advertised for college tuition in the United States is currently $34,699 annually for a private university and $9,528 for an in-state public university, according to US News College Report. Flash back to 1988, and tuition was almost one third of that: $3,190 for public and $15,160 for private, according to CNBC, all with adjustment for federal inflation.

Although the cost of living has increased over that time as well, college tuition rates are not linear to it. According to Ray Franke, professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, “college tuition has been rising almost 6 percent above the rate of inflation.”

The cause of this is a simple economic pattern: supply and demand. According to Statista.com, about 34 percent of Americans in 2017 had completed a four-year degree. In 1988, this was only 20.5 percent. These numbers mean much more when it comes time to find a job.

High School vs. Bachelor’s

When it comes to unemployment, the rates are relatively low as a country with the current unemployment rate at 4.44 percent, according to Statista.com.

However, when the numbers are broken down, it is clear that those without a degree are more likely to be unemployed. In 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate for those with only a high school diploma/GED at 4.6 percent. Those with a bachelor’s degree are at 2.5 percent, and those with a professional or doctoral degree at 1.5 percent.

Although the unemployment rate for those without a college degree is not far from the national rate, the money earned on average is much more substantial for those with a four-year degree. According to Statista.com, in 2016, the average yearly income of those with a bachelor’s degree was $63,121. Those who only finish high school earned on average $35,613.

These are the numbers that have led to an increase in demand for college education and, as a result, an increase in the cost to attend college. Most importantly, they are part of the reason why college tuition costs are so high at first glance.

Sticker vs. Actual

Although tuition prices for college are at a record high and will likely not slow down as long as inflation exists, there is no reason to believe that the sticker price, the price listed on the chart of the ‘admissions’ portion of a school’s web page, is what you will actually end up paying. The amount you end up paying after grants, scholarships and financial aid is referred to as the net price, which tends to be much more approachable than the sticker price.

The Department of Education created a program called the College Scorecard, which discloses details of what students actually end up paying for college, average salary upon graduation, amount of debt after graduation and more.

When investigating where Grand View lands on this spectrum, the ticket price is $36,506 per year (including tuition and room and board), while the average annual net cost is actually only $19,132.

In comparison to a public university such as the University of Iowa, their ticket price per year with room and board is $20,664 while their average annual net cost is $14,192.

The latter option still appears to be the better deal. However, when using the College Scorecard to look further into the universities’ costs, the financial burden of how much debt students will graduate with stands out.

Loans & Debt

The median amount of debt a Grand View graduate leaves with is $23,909, with 75 percent of students receiving federal loans of some sort. The median amount of debt a University of Iowa student leaves with is $21,616, a mere $2,293 less than Grand View, which is surprising considering the schools’ differences in sticker prices. The part that stands out most in this comparison is the fact that only 42 percent of students at the University of Iowa receive federal loans while 75 percent of Grand View students do.

The paradox here is that although the University of Iowa still ends up being the cheaper option, GV’s cost becomes comparable considering grants, federal aid and scholarships.

The percentage difference of students receiving federal loans between the two universities can be looked at a few different ways. One possibility is that it means fewer students at the University of Iowa are accepting their financial aid. They might still be eligible for it but are just deciding not to accept it.

However, another possibility is that those with wealthier families lean more toward public universities such as Iowa knowing that they will not receive or need as much financial aid as they would at a private university to deem it affordable.

The decision between a higher ticket-priced private university or a lower ticket-priced public university should come down to the question: Will I be eligible to receive financial aid?

According to the College Scorecard, only 19 percent of students at the University of Iowa receive the federal Pell Grant, which is designated for low-income students. That percentage for GV students is doubled, sitting at 38 percent.

This means that the private college that often seems more expensive may be the more cost-effective choice for students coming from lower income families. The financial benefits a lower income student would receive at a private university may make the higher ticket price more worth it. Whatever the price ends up being, the money is being put toward good use.

On Grant Money

Certain projects at GV are funded only through grants or donations. Grants the university receives usually come from foundations or corporate groups. According to Voigts, these funds “almost always go toward a specific topic on campus.”

An example of this is the GV Cares grant program. GV Cares is a program set aside for emergency situations that may lead a student to have no choice but to drop out. Those who receive it must be eligible, and according to Voigts, it is set aside for situations including “car repairs or (when) utility bills are overdue.”

A similar pool of funds is donations. These are also specified for particular projects such as the Wellness Center remodel that took place last year. That was made possible by a gift from an individual that wanted it going toward that purpose. Another example is the community garden. According to Voigts, GV received grants that went straight toward funding the garden. The university is “not reallocating funds from other places to fund the garden,” Voigts said.

Where Our Money Goes

According to Voigts, Vice President of Finance at GV, the amount of tuition a student pays, whether that comes from them or from aid they qualify for, goes toward “the salaries of the staff, benefits, campus, buildings, our grounds… all the costs of operating.”

Everything a student gets billed for goes directly toward the amenities the student receives, including parking, access to buildings, utilities and more. Additionally, some fees, such as the activity fee seen on bills, is controlled by the Viking Council, not the financial department.

Voigts also mentioned that around 60 percent of students’ tuition goes toward fairly paying GV personnel, meaning faculty and staff.

According to Voigts, when it comes to GV’s tuition increase each year, there are many factors at play. A big cause of this is the desire to maintain staff, meaning paying fair raises to keep salaries competitive and provide them with benefits.

Another big reason is inflation, which is the same reason everything in the country increases in price each year. Additionally, the market of private colleges including GV is a competitive one, according to Voigts.

“Grand View is competing for students,” Voigts said. “The industry is just sort of trained for everybody to increase every year, but financial aid increases with it.”

The most important point to be considered is that even when tuition rises at GV, which it does without a doubt each year, net price goes up with it.

Costs vs. Benefits

While $23,909, the average amount of debt a GV student graduates with, may appear alarming, it is arguably worth it in the end. According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, someone with a four-year bachelor’s degree has a lifetime earning potential of $2,268,000. For someone with only a high school diploma/GED, the potential is $1,304,000.  With almost one million more dollars earned using your degree, $23,909 is a minor opportunity cost.

On Athletics Funding

Something to keep in mind is that, although GV has a higher percentage of athletes than competing public universities do, such as the University of Iowa, athletic scholarships are considered by coaches after all other aid.

“They’re not just looking at athletic scholarships. They’re looking at the total aid package that is given to students factoring other academic aid,” Voigts said.

That said, aid determined by the FAFSA is still the main component of financial relief and is still represented by the statistics given earlier. Athletic scholarships are added after that to maintain competitiveness between universities.