According to the University of Northern Iowa’s UNI Fact Sheet: “From 1876 through 1882 tuition was free to all students intending to teach in Iowa. The figures below do not reflect boarding expenses. 1876-1882, free. 1883-1895, $10 per year. 1896-1923, $5 per term. 1924-1929, $9 per term. 1930-1931, $20 per term (freshman and sophomore), $30 per term (junior and senior).”
More recently, according to the National Center for Educational Studies: “Average undergraduate tuition … charged for full-time students in degree-granting institutions, by type and control of institution: 1964-65 through 2006-07 (in current dollars) … Tuition and required fees (in-state for public institutions) public institutions: all institutions 1964-65: $243; 2006-07: $4,101,” for full-year, full-time students. No mention is made of the tuition-free junior colleges in California in the 1960s or of the cost of books.
Each student has a story: living at home, on or off campus, taking minimum or maximum loads, being a top or bottom student, having parental subsidies or not, working or not, for minimum or union wages, part or full time, saving or not, volunteering or not, partying or not. The stories are more varied now than 50 years ago; the debt is easier to acquire.
