The prices that most people actually pay for college, which had remained stable for several years, are on the rise again, as tuition and other cost increases outpace financial aid awards, the College Board reported on Wednesday.The average price of tuition, fees, room and board, after financial aid and tuition tax credits are deducted, has reached $12,110 at public four-year colleges for in-state students and $23,840 at private nonprofit institutions.
美国大学理事会(College Board)上周三（本文最初发表于2012年10月29日——编注）发布的报告显示，多数大学生的实际支出再次上涨，结束了前几年的平稳走势，原因是学费及其他开支的增长速度超过了助学金。扣除助学金和学费退税，一名学生在本州公立四年制本科院校的学杂费和食宿费平均为12110美元；在私立非盈利院校，这个数字为23840美元。

For three decades the cost of college has seemed to do nothing but climb faster than the cost of living, based on the full prices that institutions publish. That amount, known as the sticker price, set records yet again this year, averaging $39,520 for private nonprofit colleges and $17,860 for public ones.But most students pay far less, and the true net prices, as calculated by the College Board in its annual survey of almost 4,000 institutions, and adjusted for inflation, paint a different picture: after rising swiftly since the 1980s, net prices began to level off in the last decade and actually dropped a little during the recession before climbing once again.
按照高校公布的总费用，30年来大学成本的增长速度似乎一直都跑在生活成本上涨速度前面。高校公布的是收费定价（sticker price，为高校对外公布的学费费用，但由于每个学生获得的奖、助学金等不同，事实上每个学生的实际学费都是不一样的——译注），今年这个数字再创新高，私立非盈利院校的平均定价为39520美元，公立院校为17860美元。但多数学生的真实开支水平要低得多。大学理事会的年度调查覆盖了近4000所院校，并且扣除了通胀因素。基于这项调查，该理事会计算出的实际费用却是另一番情形：实际开支从20世纪80年代开始进入快速增长状态，但最近十年走势平稳，甚至在本轮经济衰退期间有所下降，而后才出现反弹。

Judging by published prices, this year’s increase — less than 3 percent, adjusted for inflation, for public and private colleges combined — is low by recent standards. But this year’s net price climbed more than 4 percent, the steepest rise since 2003.When incomes shrank in the last downturn, financial aid from colleges and governments soared, keeping in check the costs actually paid by students and their families. In particular, federal aid ballooned for veterans and low- and moderate-income students, to more than $51 billion in 2010-11 from $23 billion in 2007-8.
从高校公布的数字来看，扣除通胀因素后，今年公立和私立院校的本科费用增幅不到3%，和近期标准相比处于较低水平。但今年本科生的实际支出上升了4%还多，是2003年以来的最快增速。本轮经济衰退中收入水平下降，但大学和政府提供的助学金大幅上升，学生及其家庭的负担因此并未明显加重。特别要指出的是，联邦政府为退伍军人和中低收入学生提供的助学金从2007/08学年的230亿美元猛增至2010/11学年的逾510亿美元。

About one-third of students pay full price, and the gap between them and those receiving financial aid is growing, a potential source of friction. Yet many prospective students from low-income families, who would actually pay little or nothing, are scared off by the big numbers, unaware of how much aid is available, said Ms. Baum, a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University.
约三分之一的学生自行承担所有费用，他们和获得助学金的学生之间的支出差距正在扩大，这可能引起矛盾。鲍姆是乔治华盛顿大学教育与人类发展研究生院(Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University)高级研究员，她说，虽然很多来自低收入家庭的求学者实际上可以承担很少的费用，甚至不承担费用，但由于不清楚能得到多少助学金，巨额教育支出还是让他们望而却步。

Among for-profit colleges surveyed, sticker prices average about $15,170 this year, up about 3 percent, and net prices average about $4,950. But the study cautioned that estimating those figures and gauging trends over time was tricky because most for-profit institutions do not participate in the survey.Ms. Baum expressed concern that this year’s increases in what students really pay at four-year colleges could be a sign of things to come. After soaring from 2008 to 2010, financial aid from colleges, states, the federal government and private sources has been flat for two years, and budget pressures are likely to defeat any increase.
本次调查中，盈利性高校今年的平均费用标价约为15170美元，上升了3%左右；实际费用约为4950美元。但高校理事会在报告中谨慎地指出，由于多数盈利性院校没有参加调查，估算相关费用并推断一段时间内的趋势是一件困难的工作。鲍姆担心今年四年制本科实际费用的增长可能预示着今后的趋势。2008年至2010年，来自学校、州政府、联邦政府和民间的助学金曾大幅上升，最近两年其数额则一直未变，而预算压力很可能让任何提高助学金的努力化为泡影。