College enrollment expected to soar

University officials nationwide say they believe several problems will accompany this population surge.

According to a report conducted by the Department of Education, 15.6 million students were enrolled in college in the 2000-2001 academic year. That number is expected to reach 17.5 million in 2010.

As colleges struggle to provide enough resources for this increase in student population, financial experts project that the price of a college education will continue to rise and high school students will find it increasingly difficult to get accepted to a top school.

“If your child is interested in going to one of the most selective institutions in the country, his or her odds of getting into that institution are going to be relatively low because there’s going to be tremendous competition,” Bob Brock, president of the Educational Marketing Group, said.

Universities are only able to accept as many students as their budget will allow, and education experts say that most colleges are already experiencing budget shortages.

As student numbers grow, colleges will be forced to find additional funds for housing and class space. Although more students mean an increase in tuition money to help fund these new expenses, tuition only accounts for 25 percent of total funding for colleges.

“The costs of producing an extremely high-quality education is going up and it is not being offset by any other revenue streams,” Brock said.

Officials also say they expect to see increased government expenditures for student financial aid.

The U.S. government spent $235.4 billion on secondary education in the year 2000. That number will rise to $302.6 billion by the year 2010. In the next 10 years the Department of Education estimates that total government expenditures will increase by 29 percent.