Derthick Reveals Twofold Increase In College Costs

The cost of going to college has about doubled since 1939-40, the Office of Education reported yesterday.

Commissioner of Education Lawrence G. Derthick said the expenses of full-time undergraduate students attending public colleges this year averages about $1,500. He added a student in a private college pays about $2,000 a year.

In contrast, the average expenditures in 1939-40 were $747 for a student in a public college and $1,023 for a private college student.

Derthick said the survey is the first comprehensive study of how much it costs an undergraduate to go to college, and where he gets the money.

The survey was based on the 1952-53 school year. Estimates for 1957 took into account the cost-of-living index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and also the rise in tuition, fees and other college costs. Average tuition and fees at public college in 1952-53 totaled about $175 and at private institutions about $550.

Students living with their parents at that time spent an average of about $1,000 a year. It cost about $350 more for a student to live in some other private home or dormitory and another $300 to live in a club, fraternity or sorority.