The U.S. Department of Education released its College Affordability and Transparency lists today to fulfill a reporting requirement passed into law in 2008. The online lists track tuition costs of the top and bottom 5% of four-year and two-year schools. The measures include public, private and for-profit colleges and universities. Separate lists show the most and least affordable schools when scholarships and other financial factors are considered. The Education Department says those “sticker prices” better reflect out-of-pocket attendance costs.
Three Louisiana colleges made the list of lowest net prices for four-year public colleges: LSU-Shreveport, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of New Orleans. Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans and Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge made the list of most affordable private schools. Two other lists track the rate of tuition increases as well as the rate of increase in the average net price. And career college users interested in a specific track can search by their area of interest, such as cosmetology or automotive repair. While the new lists highlight schools at the very top and bottom, they don’t account for the other 90% of institutions, though individual costs and other details can still be found using links on the department’s College Navigator website. To see the data, click here.
