November 3, 2009 Cost of going to college is going up Play video

(NECN: Peter Howe, Medford, Mass.) Eighteen colleges around New England this autumn have joined what's called "The $50K Club," charging more than $50,000 in tuition, room, board, and fees, according to a new survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Among them is Tufts University, which now has the distinction of being the most expensive college in Massachusetts, $51,088 in total. Still, students here say they are convinced that given what a college degree means for their life prospects and life earning prospects, it's the best investment they -- or their parents -- can make.

"It's worth it. Every penny of it is worth it," said Tufts sophomore Owen Rood of Branford, Conn., whose parents are sending in more than 5 million pennies' worth of cash each year for him to attend. A history major, Owen is already thinking about law school. Of the steep tuition price, he says, "It's worth it. It is worth it when it comes down to it because the people you meet here, the professors you work with, the friends you make, just living around the dorms -- they're amazing people, everyone you meet."

His friend Lou Tamposi of Hernando, Fla., a sophomore English major eyeing a graduate business degree, agrees and says he already has some ideas for making his parents their money back. "I think it's worth it. I've already met people I'm talking about starting businesses with in the long run."

Nationally, according to the Chronicle survey, the number of colleges in the

$50K Club has jumped from five last year to 58 this year. New England's most expensive college is Wesleyan, at $51,432, followed by Trinity in Hartford, Conn., Bates and Connecticut College. Others in the club include Babson College, Boston College, Boston University, Dartmouth, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Olin College, and Smith College.

Patrick Kandianis, co-founder of SimpleTuition.com, a Newton, Mass., company that provides advice about paying for college including access to student loan sources, says several factors account for the rising price of college, including the cost of major facilities upgrades in recent decades. Also, he says, it reflects a record pool of applicants, the baby boomers' baby boom, competing ever more fiercely for available slots at high-end colleges. "You have an increasing population [of applicants] that's still going up, so schools can be more selective, and I believe that they can charge more because they can charge more."

Kandianis notes that at top schools, only around half of students or their parents pay full price. "There is this misunderstanding, I think, that the sticker price is the actual price people pay, and in many cases, that's not the case. There are grants that are institutional grants that folks are eligible for."

At Tufts, mechanical engineering freshman Alex Chin is among the 40 percent of students getting such aid. (Tufts actually increased its budget for student aid 12 percent this year as it froze almost all other increases.) Chin is from Austin, Tex., and said, "Their financial aid program actually awarded me around $35,000 in grants, and actually took down the tuition so substantially that it was even cheaper than going to in-state schools in Texas."

But whether they and their families are paying some or all of the ever-higher tuition bills, students like Alex are convinced that it still represents a great deal.