10 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Cost of College Tuition

Do Americans owe more in student loan debt or on our credit cards? Can students actually afford their first choice colleges? It’s that time of year when students are choosing their colleges and applying for undergraduate scholarships, and many students and parents are realizing that they have more questions than answers when it comes to the costs of college.

For even more perspective on the costs of college and how scholarship money can be enormously helpful to students, we put together an infographic representing the 10 most mind-blowing facts we uncovered in our research on college tuition and undergraduate scholarships 2014.

At TakeLessons we are passionate about education, so we wanted to dig a little deeper into the costs of college to see if there are ways students can pay less for a great education. We found that although the cost of college has risen 400% over the last 30 years, there are now more scholarship opportunities available than ever. And scholarships are great news for students, even if you don’t have straight A’s.

Because only a small percentage of students receive full-ride scholarships, many students feel that they are not eligible for any scholarship money at all. However, there are  scholarships available for all types of students at many different award levels. A simple search for “undergraduate scholarships 2014” will show the incredible wealth of opportunity out there, waiting for you to apply. It doesn’t take long to apply for a scholarship, and winning scholarship money certainly beats working to pay off a loan for the same amount.