Increasing college costs in the last few years have had a tremendous effect on national post-secondary education enrollment, according to a recent congressional study.

The “College Cost Crisis” report, a congressional analysis of college costs and their implications published by the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, details the primary factors that are currently having an effect on university enrollment.

According to the study, cost factors of education are preventing 48 percent of college-qualified high school graduates from attending a four-year institution, and 22 percent from attending any type of university.

“This is a troubling statistic,” Alexa Marrero, spokesperson for the house committee, said. “These are college-qualified students. The only barrier keeping them from attending college is the affordability.”

The primary cost factor posing a threat to students is college tuition, the report said. Tuition costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation, family income and even increasing state and federal aid. According to the report, there has been an average tuition increase of $2,000 nationwide for four-year institutions over the past six years. The University of Tennessee alone has seen a nine percent increase from last year’s tuition.

Another factor being addressed is the economy. While many seek to blame the economy for lowered salaries and tuition hikes, the studies show that a poor economy is not the only reason for raised tuition. In fact, most Americans believe that wasteful spending by college management is the primary reason for rising college costs, according to the report.

“The most important thing is that raising tuition doesn’t simply become a habit when seeking to overcome (university) budget problems,” Patrick Hunter, a sophomore in classics, said.

Representative Howard McKeon, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, said in a recent press release, “Parents and students simply cannot keep up with the skyrocketing cost of college tuition, which has far outpaced the rate of inflation in both good and bad economic times.”

“Tuition goes up regardless of economic condition,” Marrero said, “Blaming (the crisis) on the economy alone paints a very incomplete picture.”

Some Americans feel high tuition costs would not pose a problem if universities were accountable for the funds that they demand.

“(The cost crisis is) the result of the fact that students and parents lack the ability to hold the higher education system accountable for disproportionate tuition increases,” Representative John Boehner, chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a press release.

To remedy a major part of the problem, the federal government provides financial aid to needy students. For the 2003 school year alone, the government has allocated an estimated $90 billion to give to higher education. Sixty five billion of these funds will go directly to students through grants and loans, with the remainder being given primarily to university programs for improvements, according to the report.

Such a staggering figure would seem to account for all of the tuition problems facing college-qualified students, but Marrero says this is not necessarily the case.

“Universities aren’t really explaining where their costs are coming from and no one really knows where the funds are going,” she said. “The only answer we’re getting from families and institutions is to send more money, but how much more can we give if $65 billion isn’t making a difference?”

Even students who see the benefits of financial aid still have trouble with university costs, the report said.

Lydia Mullican, a senior in psychology, says, “It’s tough to pay bills and save money to pay back loans at the same time. I’ve thought about taking on a second job to help with the cost, but then I wouldn’t even have time to study,” Lydia Mullican, senior in psychology, said.

The exploding college costs provide the backdrop for the Higher Education Act’s reauthorization, which is slated for this year. The act has guaranteed funding to needy families for nearly four decades.

“This reauthorization gives Congress the chance to review and reform university programs and the money being spent on them. We’ll be able to see where we can make improvements,” Marrero said.