Parents who dream of sending their children to a top college in the U.S. are faced with soaring tuition costs as more Americans consider if a diploma is worth the financial pain. 

CNN, citing data collected by US News & World Report, reported that the average tuition at U.S. private colleges increased by about 4 percent last year to just under $40,000 a year. In-state schools saw an annual increase of 0.8 percent to about $10,500 a year.

The report, citing Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, noted that from 1980 to 2020, the average cost of tuition increased by 169 percent compared to earnings for workers between 22 and 27 increasing just 19 percent.

Reports said the imbalance could be contributing to why a Gallup poll released last week showed that just 36 percent of Americans have confidence in higher education, which is a decrease of 20 percent over the past eight years.

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively following the soaring prices of college educations in the U.S. and how many American families just simply are being priced out. Young Americans, with no interest in being saddled with a decade’s worth of debt, have been turning to alternative options which include apprenticeships and internships. 

(See “TOP TREND 2023: COLLEGES CONTINUE TO CLOSE ACROSS U.S. AS WOULD-BE STUDENTS WEIGH OTHER OPTIONS” 27 Jun 2023, “COLLEGE CRASH TOP TREND ON-TREND: ENROLLMENT CONTINUES DECLINE” 30 May 2023, “TOP TREND 2023, COLLEGE CRASH: 3 REASONS YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SHUNNING HIGHER EDUCATION” 4 Apr 2023, and “YOUNG AMERICANS DITCH COLLEGE FOR APPRENTICESHIPS, FURTHER CEMENTING OUR TOP TREND” 21 Mar 2023.) 

The CNN report, citing data from the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that in recent decades, the income gap in the U.S. has widened and noted that in 2021, the top 10 percent of Americans held about 70 percent of the wealth in the U.S., which is a jump of 61 percent from 1989. The top 1 percent of earners pull in 2.1 percent of all income. 

The report noted that students who do bite the bullet and go to college are often slammed with major student-loan debt. Not adjusting for inflation, the average debt at graduation jumped 2,807 percent since 1970. When you adjust for inflation, that number is 317 percent. 

The increase of tuition even caught the attention of producers on “Jeopardy,” and was a category last week. One question showed how Duke and North Carolina charged about $7,000 in 1985. The tuition at these schools now was more than $63,000.

Some viewers took to Twitter to voice their frustrations about the tuition realities. 

“This Jeopardy category about how much tuition at various colleges cost back in the day is depressing as hell,” one posted.