What is the Cost of College Tuition?

What is the average cost of college tuition? This is one question that most parents and future students ask themselves and need to know in order to plan for a college education.

The national average college tuition rate for public universities is $4,694 per year for in state residents. This figure includes both tuition rates and fees for a full time student.

The average college tuition rate at private colleges and universities is around $20,000 per year in tuition and fees.

Many students take advantage of the low tuition rates of two-year public colleges and junior colleges. The average tuition for a two year school is only $2,076 per year.

College Tuition Increase

While it is good to get an idea of the current cost of tuition, it is also important to understand the expected increase in tuition costs. Students who still have several years before entering college and their families should be keenly aware of the projected estimates rather than the current costs so that they can plan accordingly.

Tuition rates increase at about twice the general inflation rate. On average, tuition rates tend to increase about 8% per year. Some academic years see a greater increase than others and many economic factors come into play when a college decides to increase tuition.

For the school year 2005-2006 many colleges dramatically raised tuition rates. An example of such tuition hikes is at the University of Colorado where tuition rates have been raised for all of the system's campuses. Tuition at the Boulder campus will go up by 27.8 percent, from $3,480 to $4,446. Other University of Colorado campuses will see a similar increase.

And now the good news...

Even though college tuition rates increase, more students than ever are benefiting from educational aid programs. According to a report from The College Board, "In 2003-04, the amount the average student actually paid for a public four-year institution, after receiving grant aid and education tax benefits, was about $1,300 per student."

Government grants such as the pell grant provide funding for many college students. In fact for students who attend two-year colleges the grant award may cover the entire cost of tuition.

Scholarship programs awarded by colleges, businesses and non profit organizations are available to help students defray the cost of college tuition. There are many college scholarship programs available and it is becoming even easier to find these programs with the use of the internet.

With a combination of savings, financial aid, and scholarships many students today are able to afford college tuition and further their education.

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What Tuition Does Your Child Need?

Deciding whether your child would benefit from tuition and then choosing the best tutors, can be a daunting task. So how should you set about it?

Does My Child Need Tuition?

Many parents have contacted me, uncertain about whether their children need, or would benefit from tuition. As tuition can be expensive you should understand what it can achieve because tuition can help children in a number of ways but it's not all about getting the best tutors:

• To catch up on areas of work they find difficult.
• To stretch, improve or extend the child understanding.
• To help engage 'bored' or 'disengaged' children.
• To improve their confidence.

Choosing the Best Tutors?

Tuition is a considerable investment in time and money. So you need to choose the best possible tuition. Making the right choice is important from the vast range of tuition schemes available. So ask these important questions of the Tutor.

• Are they qualified to teach? 
You can ask to see their teaching qualification and their QTS certificate. Some of the qualifications that teachers might have include: Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Professional Graduate Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education.

• Are they police (CRB) checked, and is the check an 'enhanced disclosure'? 
All adults who have regular contact with children, like tutors, should have an enhanced CRB check. You can ask to see this. Most schools require a new check every three years. But do remember that a CRB check is only as good as the information that is held on the teacher. It is a good safeguard but you should always monitor the safety of your child.

• Do you and your child like them? 
The best tuition is the result of a good, effective working relationship between pupil and teacher. So to maximise the effectiveness of tuition ensure that your child responds well to their tutor. It is not worth sticking with a tutor that your child does not like!

• Will they be able to meet your tuition needs? 
When you send your child to tuition make sure you, and your tutor, has a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Ask the tutor if he/she can deliver what you want.

What Type of Tuition is Available?

There are many different types of tuition service available - so make sure you get the service best suited to your child's needs. I have grouped these into several categories, each one having something different to offer.

One-To-One Tuition

So you think one-to-one is the best? Perhaps you think it must be because it is usually the most expensive!

It may be true in the short term, just before exams but generally the tutors are dominant, and one-to-one tuition does not allow the child to enjoy learning independently, and it does not provide a forum for discussion, to express their opinions, their difficulties, or to interact with other children in the learning process. Moreover, the best tutors and teachers assess through watching children interacting with each other, discussing problems, and working and playing with other children.

As one-to-one tuition has been a flag ship of government policy since the 2010 election and is now widely available and some is delivered through schools in 10 hour programs although now the budget has been given to schools many are opting for small group tuition.

There are also teachers who provide this service privately. This is usually the most expensive tuition option as the teachers full attention is devoted to your child. It can be effective, and certainly children should make progress. However, in addition to cost, it is harder to make the sessions 'lively' and 'fun'. Teachers will spend a large part of their time waiting for the child to finish their work.

And it is also difficult to foster independence in one-to-one tuition. Children often stop thinking through concepts and just wait for the teacher to teach, and explain it to them. In the long term, this is unhelpful. It is possible to find very cheap one-to-one tuition in some areas, but whilst this might appear attractive, parents should ask about the qualifications, and the skills of such tutors.

Small Group Tuition

Small group tuition is available across the UK. It is usually cheaper than one-to-one tuition, and so makes better use of the teacher's time. It also provides children with the opportunity to share ideas, and for the teacher to use competition and games to enhance the learning of each child. As the session comes alive in this way it becomes easier for teachers to assess, build confidence and inspire children.

Small group Tuition Centres usually have up to eight children in each group. Between four and six children per tuition group is an ideal number as this allows good group dynamics and individual attention. If a group falls below three it becomes difficult to encourage group dynamics.

Larger tuition groups cannot guarantee, and often fail to provide each child with the individual attention they need and often seems no different to an ordinary school classroom. If your child is having difficulty then putting them in this situation is likely to make the emotional barriers worse.

Continuity and consistency is important to any tuition group. So attendance should be regular. Each group should have matched children, or similar ability. And the same tutor should lead the group.

Large Group Tuition

There are many large group tuition centres in some areas, some with between 15 and 30 children. Again, some of these groups do not use qualified tutors. So whilst these centres are often cheaper per session, the parent should ask whether the tuition provided is able to provide something different to what is being offered at school.

If your child is not achieving their academic goals or has a barrier to learning in large classrooms in school, why should large tuition groups be more effective?

Study Programs

There are many study centres in the UK. Many are 'on-line' websites, which sit your child in front of a computer or provides them with worksheets. Children are then expected to work through them on their own. The amount of teaching done is minimal.

So the parent should ask what am I paying for? The answer is the worksheet resources. These can also be found on the internet, the local library or in a book shop. It always amazes me how much parents are prepared to pay for these study programs when similar materials are available in shops at a fraction of the cost. Additionally parents considering a study centre should note that children who require tuition need the support of a tutor to help them learn, and to unblock any obstacles to their learning. Study centres do not provide the teaching and support your children need.

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Which Is Better: Group or Home Tuition?

I get many people asking me this question over and over again, is home tuition better, or is a group tuition in a tuition center better? Rather than me giving the answer, why don't you use my guidelines below to see whether you use be taking up home tuition or a group or class tuition in a tuition center.

Number one is to know what you truly want for your child. If you really want your child to do well and improve quickly, then you have no doubts at all that home tuition is better. The reason is rather simple, you get the attention of the tutor all on your son or daughter. For the entire duration of the tuition or lesson, the tutor will sit beside your child and literally do the teaching and then the practices together. If your child has any questions, he or she can simply just shoot, and the tutor will immediately answer your child.

This is not possible if you are having group tuition. Why do I say that? Because in a group setting, how can you be sure that you have the tutor's attention all on you, and how can you be sure that you are able to ask all your questions and clear all your doubts. This is a group tuition so everyone must have equal chances and opportunities to speak to the tutor.

What is your child dozes off, or daydreams in tuition? For a home tutor, the home tutor can immediately notice it and wake your child up. In a group tuition, it might be long before the tutor actually notices it. By then, precious time have passed and there might be key facts which had been gone through but your child was not listening in order to benefit from it!

Another good thing is that the tuition is conducted at the convenience of your home. Do you know what that means? It means that no time is unnecessarily wasted to and fro the tuition center. Also, it is so much easier for you, as all the teaching and textbooks are at your home, which means that you do not have to carry all your heavy books and files, and yet still manage to forget to bring something! With home tuition, there won't be this problem at all.

I am not all advocating for home tuition, even though I believe that it is the best form of tuition. if you have a strict budget to follow, and do not earn much to make a living, then group or class tuition in a tuition center would be a better option because it is more affordable at lower fees. Of course, this is because this is not the better option in terms of quality.

Chinese have this saying that "every extra cent you pay, you are getting extra quality and value". Thus that is why home tuition is certainly pricier since it is of higher quality.

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How Does Tuition Help Improve Grades?

You've heard others talk about the higher grades their children are receiving after attending tuition and you want the same thing for your child. You don't understand how a tuition centre can help your child bring up their grades, but you know that they need help keeping up with their peers. Or perhaps they are already learning appropriately but you want to speed up the pace because you know they are very bright. Either way, a tuition centre can help.

How it Works

When a child enters a tuition centre they are assessed to determine what their learning capabilities and weaknesses are. The tuition program is designed to help them improve on their weak areas while they continue to excel at their strengths. They are encouraged to try new things, apply themselves fully, and think in new ways.

What is so great about tuition is material that a child finds very confusing can be presented in different ways to make it more understandable. Children are taught new ways to think about things so that their minds are opened and they take a new approach to learning.

Many children find tuition very fun. They love going to tuition because they are learning and experiencing success for the first time in their lives. As their grades improve and they see great improvements in their ability to learn they want to go back to the tuition centre more and more. This is a sign of improved self confidence and shows that they are capable of learning and actually enjoying the learning process.

Tuition is designed to help your child improve school performance. Your child will not be given easier work, but will be challenged to look at what they find difficult and conquer it. Whatever your child may be struggling with right now, tuition could help them figure out and move beyond.

Starting with Tuition

The hardest part about tuition is getting your child started. They may be feeling very bad about themselves from a long line of failures in their studies and they may be feeling like they can only fail. It is a bit leap to go from that low opinion of yourself into a tuition environment and come out on the other end filled with confidence and a sense of success.

It is difficult, but it can be done! It has already been done by many children in Singapore and around the world. It could happen for your child as well, no matter how low they may be feeling about themselves and their grades right now.

If your child is not making the grades you want them to make, tuition can help. If they are already on task with their peers but you know that they could excel even more, then they will be encouraged to become their absolute best through tuition. If they are really struggling to get good grades, tuition can make it easier and help them understand the lessons easier and faster.

All children benefit from the fun and educational environment of a tuition centre. It doesn't matter what their struggles are or how long they have been struggling. In fact, if your child has been struggling for a long time the time to bring them to a tuition centre is right now. Don't make them suffer anymore when success can be found through tuition.

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Home Tutors Versus Tuition Centres - Which Is Better?

Being a specialist in the teaching industry, I am often asked a question by parents: "Is home tuition or going to a tuition centre better?" Due to the popularity of this question among parents, and to save myself the need to keep repeating my answer, I shall address this issue here.

When I ask parents for their opinion before answering their Number 1 question, more often than not, I will always receive the immediate reply that tuition centres are better. Why? Because they are more expensive, they have more students and the teachers will be qualified. Let me explain why this answer is worrying.

Firstly: the cost of tuition. The importance of education cannot be underestimated especially in a world that thrives on research and innovation. However, this does not justify the misconception that the most expensive is definitely the best. I have come across many parents who have been disappointed with the performance of their children after sending them for supposedly the 'best tuition in town'. One has to recognize that what works for someone else's child may not work for yours. It is more advisable to remain open to various suggestions on improving your child's grades instead of solely relying on tuition centres.

Secondly: tuition centres have more students. From the surface, yes, tuition centres appear to have more students. That's because tuition centres usually conduct classes in large groups while home tutors tend to teach students individually, and the lessons are often at home. Also, you will never know the actual number of tutors and students tuition agencies have under their charge. The statistics are always changing in real time.

Lastly: the teachers are qualified. If you are saying that with 100% confidence, you might want to reduce that by half. Currently, there are no regulations or checks done locally to ensure that teachers at tuition centres are genuinely qualified. Tuition is a lucrative business. Employing another teacher would mean that additional classes can be opened, which in turn, converts to higher profits. And, is there a way for you to view the teacher's certificates? Probably not. In other words, parents are ASSUMING that the teachers are qualified, and they are forking out enormous sums of money at their OWN RISK.

Having cleared the air, what are the other alternatives? The most obvious competitor to tuition centres would be home tuition. Home tuition in general comes at a lower cost and with the individual attention given to your child for the full two hours (which is what a tuition centre cannot offer), it can potentially be more effective. In addition, it is more convenient and flexible as tutors travel to your house and can adapt to your schedule. Also, tutors can remain under your scrutiny at all times if you want to ensure that they are not sleeping on the job. On the other hand, sitting in class with your child in most tuition centres is definitely not allowed. Most importantly, you are certain that the tutor's credentials are genuine having been screened by the tuition agency, then by yourself upon request.

So, you may wonder, if home tuition is better, how can it be cheaper? Again, allow me to emphasize that the quality is not always determined by the price. Home tutors can afford to charge lesser because they do not need to pay rental fees and employment benefits. Unlike tuition centres, there are no miscellaneous costs such as enrollment or registration fees, and no one-month deposits. A one-month advanced notice for termination does not apply either. Essentially, you are only paying for the lessons taught.

Despite the benefits, some parents are concerned over the fact that the tutors are students themselves. Yes, most tutors are students themselves who are offering tutoring services to earn some allowance. But, that does not mean that they are not qualified and a reliable tuition agency will only recommend tutors that are knowledgeable and experienced enough. You may be surprised that many relief teachers in our local schools and junior colleges are polytechnic graduates or are students who have just completed their 'A' level examinations. Now, surely you can be assured that a third-year university undergraduate is qualified enough to be your child' tutor.

The comparison between home tutors and tuition centres is unlikely to end and depends heavily on its suitability for your child. Although expensive tuition is not always the best, be wary about the cheapest offer too. Select reliable tutors at reasonable rates, or be prepared to pay a heavy price instead.

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