Henry Daily Herald

Tuition and fees costs have increased by about 16 percent over the past year at Gordon College, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC). Still, costs there remain among the lowest nationwide for a four-year, public college.

The CATC recently produced several lists identifying colleges and universities with the highest and lowest tuitions, as well as pointing to the net cost of attending those institutions and which institutions have the fastest-rising costs.

A combined total of 4,165 institutions were included in the center’s report, according to Tamara Boatwright, spokeswoman for Gordon College.

Gordon College is part of the University System of Georgia, offering more than 40 programs of study to 5,000 students in Barnesville, Ga., about 50 miles south of downtown Atlanta.

The college’s undergraduate, in-state tuition and fees amounted to $3,016 for the 2011-12 academic year, according to the CATC report. Tuition at the college was about $2,596, compared to the national average of $6,669.

“Our goal is to offer high-quality, accessible degree programs that are affordable yet prepare our graduates for the workforce needs of the state,” said Boatwright.

The Department of Education designed the CATC to meet requirements in the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The center provides information to students and parents about college costs and serves as a central point to tools that allow users to compare college tuitions and fees, net price, and other characteristics.

“We want to arm students and parents with the information they need to make smart educational choices,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Students need to know up front how much college will actually cost them instead of waiting to find out when the first student-loan bill arrives. These lists are a major step forward in unraveling the mystery of higher-education pricing.”

Nearby institutions of higher learning also fall below the national average.

Clayton State University, for example, is expected to begin August with undergraduate, in-state tuition and fees at $2,557 for the Fall 2012 Semester (an estimated $5,114 for the academic year), according to John Shiffert, the director of university relations at Clayton State.

The university is a unit of the University System of Georgia, located in Morrow, just 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta. The university offers eight master’s degree programs and 40 baccalaureate degree major to some 6,900 students.

At Southern Crescent Technical College, with campuses in Thomaston and Griffin, tuition and fees for full-time students is about $1,039 per semester (an estimated $2,078 for the year). The technical college is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, with a combined student population of more than 6,500 credit students.

To learn more about college costs, visit: http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx.