If Preethi Chandrasekharan had been a student at Kansas University in 1993, he would have paid $1,920 per year in tuition and fees.

Instead, Chandrasekharan, a senior from Wichita, is paying $4,101 per year.

KU’s tuition and fee rates have increased 114 percent in the past 10 years — well above the national average of 85 percent for public, four-year universities, according to a report released Tuesday by the College Board.

“That’s big,” Chandrasekharan said. “That’s something that the school doesn’t tell you.”

And he’ll be paying for the increases for years — his college education is covered with student loans.

“I guess it hasn’t hit me yet,” he said.

The College Board, an association of colleges and universities that administers the ACT and SAT tests, reported that tuition and fees at public, four-year institutions increased 14 percent this year. At KU, the increase was 17.7 percent, which came after a 21 percent increase the previous year.

National averages

But Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, senior vice provost at KU, said she wasn’t concerned that KU tuition was increasing at a rate faster than the national average. She noted that tuition and fees at KU still were less than the national average — $4,101 for a full-time student from Kansas, compared with $4,694 nationally for residents.

“We’re not that concerned about the percentage,” McCluskey-Fawcett said. “Parents are more concerned about the actual amount of their check.”

But she said Kansas parents who started a college savings plan 10 years ago based on tuition rates at the time would have “come up short” for paying for their children’s education after the tuition increases.

Like their colleagues at universities in many states, KU officials have blamed their tuition increases on declining state funding.

“We didn’t want to become a high-priced school,” McCluskey-Fawcett said. “We wanted to be a reasonably priced school. We won’t be cheap.”

More aid

The College Board noted many students have been protected from tuition increases by a growing availability of financial aid.

According to 2002-2003 data — the latest available — total financial aid rose to $105 billion, up 14.5 percent from the previous year. During the past decade, financial aid rose 203 percent, up from $34 billion in the 1992-1993 academic year.

College Board officials said financial aid left the “average student” well-positioned to absorb increased costs. But they acknowledged that 40 percent of students received no aid and had to shoulder the additional expense.

Political reaction

Tuesday’s report unleashed a political debate in Washington about higher education costs.

Republicans accused colleges and universities of wasting taxpayer money on lavish campus facilities.

KU tuition to increase 20.7 percent (6-26-03)More tuition stories and information

“Hyperinflation in college costs has been pummeling parents and students for more than a decade, and the problem has not been a lack of spending by states or the federal government,” said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio. “The bigger issue is whether institutions are accountable enough to parents, students and taxpayers, and clearly they are not.”

Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., last week introduced a bill that would allow the federal government to cut off federal subsidies to institutions that repeatedly impose “exorbitant” tuition increases.

Meanwhile, Democrats used the report to accuse Republicans of draining education coffers to pay for President Bush’s tax cuts.

“Republican tax and budget cuts have hurt students by forcing states to raise tuition,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

— Journal-World wire services contributed information to this report.