College tuition bills are continuing to rise nationally this year, according to a new College Board study.
The study shows that the cost of education at four-year colleges is 35 percent higher than it was five years ago, but the costs are rising more slowly than in years past.
The College Board held a press conference Oct. 24 to discuss the results of the study and invited numerous officials from colleges around the country and one University student.
Second-year College student Kyle Mihalcoe said he attended the press conference as a representative of all "public universities" and spoke about the importance of financial aid programming in this environment of rising costs.
AccessUVa Project Manager Robin White said the role of the University at the conference was to discuss AccessUVa as a model for financial aid.
"They chose us because we have one of the most comprehensive student aid programs in the country," White said.
Mihalcoe said programs like AccessUVa allow students to go through college without being crippled by debt.
"This allows people to think 'I can acquire this even though I can't afford it,'" he said. "AccessUVa made me feel like this is an attainable goal."
Programs like AccessUVa are especially important as the cost of education increases, White said.
"As costs increase, students who have need are not impacted," she said.
However, AccessUVa doesn't mean that costs aren't going up at the University for many students.
In April, the Board of Visitors raised tuition by 7.7 percent for out-of-state students and 9.3 percent for in-state students.
Nationally, public universities raised tuition for their in-state students by $344, which is a 6.3 percent increase from last year. The University surpassed the average by when they raised in-state tuition by $665.
White said AccessUVa is available to all accepted students and if they demonstrate the need, they won't feel the cost of the increase.
"AccessUVa really does make it possible for students to attend the University," White said.
Additionally, White said socioeconomic diversity is very important and beneficial to the University community.
"We believe the University is enriched by these students," he said.
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