美国国家公共电台 NPR--Families grapple with the rising cost of a college education

Families grapple with the rising cost of a college education

Transcript¹

Families grapple with rising college costs

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The price of higher education is increasing. And tuition hikes at many colleges and universities are expected to continue. The price tag often plays a big part in people's decisions about where to enroll². But there is some good news, and NPR's Elissa Nadworny has it.

ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE³: Despite the hard financial decisions families are making this spring...

ROBERT KELCHEN: Tuition is nowhere near keeping up with inflation.

NADWORNY: Robert Kelchen studies student financial aid and college finance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

KELCHEN: The last three or four years have seen some of the smallest tuition increases in decades.

NADWORNY: The other good news? - that sticker price, the big number on a college website, very few families actually pay that.

PHILLIP LEVINE: Only about 1 in 6 students actually pay the sticker price at a four-year institution.

NADWORNY: Phillip Levine is an economics professor at Wellesley College. He has new research looking at what most students do pay - the price, minus grants and scholarships, sometimes called the net cost, or, as Levine says, the real price of college.

LEVINE: In the end, the real price of college, after adjusting for inflation, has actually been falling.

NADWORNY: He drilled down on selective colleges, often those with really big sticker prices, and found the same trend.

LEVINE: You know, families are paying, you know, roughly 20% less than they did seven or eight years ago.

NADWORNY: The federal Pell Grant, which is money for low-income students, will also increase for next fall. The maximum amount will be just over $7,000 a year, thanks to Congress. Though, the Biden administration had unsuccessfully pushed to double that amount. But all this seemingly good news comes as families are struggling with rising rents and high costs of goods.

SANDY BAUM: So when that happens, then you just have less money left to pay for things.

NADWORNY: Sandy Baum is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. She says with inflation so high, anything that's a big part of your budget - say, college tuition - is going to be painful.

BAUM: So you don't need an increase in college prices for people to feel strained paying for college.

NADWORNY: Millions of students are struggling to make this math work right now. Neveah Flemming, a high school senior in Washington, D.C., got into 13 colleges, but she's not exactly celebrating.

NEVEAH FLEMMING: I don't know how to feel about it anymore because I used to be so happy to receive congratulations in the mail.

NADWORNY: But recently, that happiness turned to sadness as she realized even after all her financial aid, the cost of college was still way more than her family could pay.

FLEMMING: Yes, I like the schools. I applied⁴ to them. I got into them. But I can't go to them.

NADWORNY: She pulls up a spreadsheet tracking all of her colleges' details...

FLEMMING: OK, so I have the numbers up.

NADWORNY: ...The sticker price, the scholarships and how much she's expected to pay.

FLEMMING: The least amount that I would have to pay for one of my colleges is 9,000.

NADWORNY: And $9,000 was just too much. She's the oldest of four kids and determined⁵ not to take out student loans.

FLEMMING: I don't want that in my life at all. I know what it does to people.

NADWORNY: So her plan now? - apply to even more schools and see if she can make the money work. Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。