College Costs in U.S.

By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: November 6, 2003

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.
A new report says the cost of studies at public colleges in the United States increased fourteen percent this year. This is the biggest increase in 1)tuition in thirty years. But the study also found that the average student pays a lot less than the published costs of a college education, because of 2)grants. And it points out that American students received a record amount of financial aid last year.
Students do not have to repay grants, unlike financial aid in the form of loans. About half of American college students receive grants. This means that education costs differ from student to student.
The report is from the College Board. This is a non-profit membership group of schools and other educational organizations. One of its best-known jobs is to administer college entrance tests.
The College Board says tuition at two-year public colleges rose at the same rate as four-year schools.
The College Board says the increases were mainly caused by cuts in state spending on education. But a 3)congressman¹ says colleges have increased their prices in both good and bad economic times. John Boehner [pronounced bay-ner] of Ohio is chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce². He says colleges do not want to talk about their decisions to spend money to build things like rock-climbing walls.
The College Board collected information from four-thousand colleges and universities. It says the average total charge for students who live at a public college in their state is ten-thousand-six-hundred dollars. While tuition rose fourteen percent this year, housing and other costs increased at a lower rate.
At a private college, total charges are almost twenty-seven-thousand dollars. That is an increase of about six percent over last year.
David Ward³ is president of the American Council on Education. His group represents colleges and universities. Mister Ward called the College Board findings bad news. But he says 4)percentage increases in tuition do not tell the whole story. He says there was good news about grants and other student aid.
The College Board says financial aid for the last school year reached one-hundred-five-thousand-million dollars. That amount was up sharply from the year before.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Steve Ember.

注释：
1) tuition [tju:5iFEn] n.学费
2) grant [^rB:nt] n.助学金
3) congressman [5kRN^resmEn] n.国会议员
4) percentage [pE5sentidV] n.百分率，百分比

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。