LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The latter months of the year are when high school seniors typically start sending in their college applications in hopes of getting into the school of their choice.
However, data has shown that these days finding the right university can come with a major sticker shock.
Adrianna Davis sent her daughter off to Arkansas Tech University for her first year at the beginning of the Fall semester.
“It was perfect, but it came with a very high price tag,” explained Davis.
The final number on the dotted line for Davis’ daughter’s tuition came out to more than $25,000 for only one year.
“I was shocked,” she said. “I was in college for 10 years and I had never seen tuition that expensive.”
Melissa Lasley is a high school counselor and the mother of multiple in-state college students. She found herself in the same boat as Davis, stunned by tuition prices.
"I don't remember them being quite that high,” Lasley said. “I had a private out-of-state tuition and it's comparable to what we're paying now for in-state."
Paying for her kids’ high tuition and other college expenses has caused Lasley’s family to stretch their dollars as best they can.
“I'm fortunate that I've always been good at organizing my bills and living on a nickel like it's a dime,” Lasley described.
The continuous rise in tuition over the last two decades isn't just affecting families— it's an issue that even university administration has been struggling with.
“We're doing everything we can to make sure we keep costs down,” Todd Shields Arkansas State University Chancellor said.
Arkansas State University Chancellor Todd Shields and Calvin White Jr. the Provost and Vice Chancellor, both know that tuition sticker shock is significant.
"For most families in Arkansas, tuition costs will be a driver in where they decide to spend the next four years," White said.
According to 'U.S. News and World Report' tuition in 2004 averaged around $10,000. Since then, out-of-state tuition and fees at public universities rose about 38%, with in-state tuition and fees rising 56%.
“There's been a lot of changes in higher education, we thought that would make things cheaper,” Shields said. “Things like massive open online courses, or M.O.O. C’s. There are costs associated with those that we didn't anticipate.”
Shields mainly credits this continuous rise in tuition to one thing.
“State funding for universities has declined precipitously over since really the late 1980s.” Shields said. “So, the burden has been shifted onto tuition."
No matter the reason for the increase, tuition still must be paid.
For families like Lasley’s, that means obtaining a higher education comes with sacrifices.
“While I've worked, I would also work a second job,” Lasley said. “We don't drive cars that are expensive, we don't go on vacations, we don't buy new clothes.”
Both mothers and educators agree that tuition is just a fraction of the whole problem.
“When they [students] get there, they realize that the fees are as much or more than the tuition is,” Shields said.
Things like books, meal plans and housing, along with other school-related fees add thousands of dollars to college expenses.
“My son's rent costs went up $200 for next year,” Lasley said. “You're basically locked in, because you're almost a hostage to whatever the going rate is.”
Lasley said the extra college expenses she faces come out to almost equal tuition in some cases.
"It's overwhelming because you think you're paying one cost, and then you get another bill and then another one comes."
Davis said their family must take university bills a semester at a time.
The payment plan that she chose was around $850 a month,” Davis said. “We knew that was not going to be sustainable. not for us, not for her.”
The situation both Davis and Lasley face begs the question of what's it going to take for tuition to dip back down?
“It's going to take the country to realize that we're all better off, the more educated our state is,” Shields said. “On a national level, the same thing is true.”
At ASU administrators are working to make tuition less of a burden. They hope it allows students to not sacrifice a dream for a dollar.
“What you see in the tuition, that's what you get, there's not additional fees,” Shield said.White said Arkansas State University is committed to not only bringing students to the university, but keeping those students around.
“This is a campus that can also support your dreams,” White said. “We give each student who stays on campus a $2,500 stipend. In that second year, if those students choose to continue to stay with us, we will raise that to $4,500 with academic eligibility.”
White realizes the pain of rising tuition costs and hopes ASU’s initiatives help families and students.
“We want to take those fees off the table,” White said. “We want that student to be able pick us knowing that tuition is not a driving factor.”
Still, with no sign of tuition costs going down or even levelling off, Davis is concerned about the limits this puts on higher education.
“Many students aren’t going to be able to afford to go to college,” Davis said. “It's going to severely impact their opportunities.”
With multiple children in college and more to come, Lasley struggles to find the light at the end of the tunnel but knows a college diploma is worth the price.
“Over 30 years of teaching, when a lot of people are hanging it up, I'm still counting the days because I’ve got more kids to go,” Lasley said. "But we make a few sacrifices because the end result is going to be better for them.”
Ultimately, inflation, rising administrative costs and reduced state funding for higher education keep college costs high.
According to recent reports, if tuition continues to rise, demand will go down, which in turn could cause colleges to decrease prices in order to attract student to their campus.