Meriam Library on the WWW

Scholarships Help Students Reach Goals

Re-User Friendly

Laxson over the Years

A Fire Burns through It

Increased Costs Squeeze Families

Students and their families are caught between the rising costs of education and the near stagnation of financial aid dollars. In 1990-91, the total cost of attending CSU, Chico was $7,426. Today the cost is $10,600, a 42 percent increase. The chart below summarizes this increase.

Students have several sources of financial help. They can apply for federal grants, state grants, work-study, scholarships, and federal loans to alleviate the cost of education. State and federal grants have risen and fallen several times over the past seven years. The highest year for state grants was 1993-94 when Chico State students received $6,884,911. The 1997-98 school year was highest for federal grants, when Chico State students received $6,839,635. Both of these pale next to the vast amounts of federal loans received by students and their families. In 1991-92, Chico State students and their families borrowed $12,366,948. By 1997-98, that figure rose to $35,370,074, a 186 percent increase in only seven years. Scholarships and other third-party payments rose from $367,792 in 1991-92 to $1,017,322 in 1997-98, a 176 percent increase in the same amount of time. While the percentages are similar, the amounts are vastly different. It is this difference that leads students into post-graduation debt.

Barbara Alderson, University Publications