FUTURE SHOCK College for today’s newborns could cost as much as $422K

[kpete]

FUTURE SHOCK
College for today’s newborns could cost as much as $422K
BY ASHLEY KINDERGAN MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012

New moms and dads with visions of Ivy League degrees dancing in their heads should be prepared to face a bill of $422,320 in today’s dollars if Junior heads off to one the country’s priciest colleges as a member of the class of 2034.

If college costs keep rising as they have for the last three decades, the inflation-adjusted price of four years of tuition alone will more than double at private colleges and nearly triple at public universities by the time a baby born this year is ready to enroll, an analysis by The Daily shows.

Even after adjusting for inflation, college tuition has increased by an average of 3.5 percent a year at private schools and 4.5 percent a year at public schools, the analysis showed. When room and board are factored in, the total cost of college has gone up by an average of 3.08 percent a year at private schools and 2.96 percent at public schools.

At those rates, the median price of a year of tuition, fees, room and board at one of the country’s top 10 most expensive private colleges, as ranked last year by Forbes magazine, would shoot from $56,658 to $110,432 by 2034 — the year a baby born this year would graduate — assuming that costs rise at the same average annual growth rate that has prevailed at private colleges as a group for the last 30 years.


http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/01/09/010912-news-college-costs-1-5/

[xocet]

2. Is there an error in the mathematics? What do you feel is 'tinfoil' about the prediction?

Public school costs will be continuing to rise as well.

FUTURE SHOCK
College for today’s newborns could cost as much as $422K
By Ashley Kindergan Monday, January 9, 2012
...

Even after adjusting for inflation, college tuition has increased by an average of 3.5 percent a year at private schools and 4.5 percent a year at public schools, the analysis showed. When room and board are factored in, the total cost of college has gone up by an average of 3.08 percent a year at private schools and 2.96 percent at public schools.

At those rates, the median price of a year of tuition, fees, room and board at one of the country’s top 10 most expensive private colleges, as ranked last year by Forbes magazine, would shoot from $56,658 to $110,432 by 2034 — the year a baby born this year would graduate — assuming that costs rise at the same average annual growth rate that has prevailed at private colleges as a group for the last 30 years.

...

(http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/01/09/010912-news-college-costs-1-5/)

Year(starting cost in 2011) // Base Cost(in USD) // Increment (in USD)
0 // 55658.00 // 1745.07
1 // 58403.07 // 1798.81
2 // 60201.88 // 1854.22
3 // 62056.10 // 1911.33
4 // 63967.43 // 1970.20
5 // 65937.62 // 2030.88
6 // 67968.50 // 2093.43
7 // 70061.93 // 2157.91
8 // 72219.84 // 2224.37
9 // 74444.21 // 2292.88
10 // 76737.09 // 2363.50

...---...

etc.

[xocet]

4. Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the information.

Over what sort of timescale can the OP's financial predictions be made without being faulty? Is there a short enough timescale other than a trivial one for which the OP's sort of statement would not be unreasonable?

If you would prefer not to answer the above questions (I don't know how lengthy the answers might need to be), could you please point me to a book that would discuss these sort of questions?

Thanks again.

[bemildred]

5. And they still won't find a decent job. nt