CSU Proposes 9 Percent Tuition Increase

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)- Colorado State University is proposing a nine percent tuition increase for next fall.

If approved the tuition for fall and spring semesters in 2014 would be $7,494.

The proposed tuition increase at CSU is not set in stone. The Board of Governors will decide later this summer on the final amount.

"Even though I'm instate it's still expensive especially if you're paying for it by yourself. It affects everyone," said one CSU student.

The cost for higher education continues to rise.

CSU isn't the only tuition increase in Colorado; the University of Colorado just announced an 8.7 percent hike.

"School is already too much so it's really just adding to it," said another CSU student.

Michael Tarantino is a Certified Financial Planner. He said paying for college is a popular anxiety parents have even when their children are infants.

"It's one of the major concerns my clients have: are they going to have enough money to send their child to college?" said Tarantino.

"Over the past five years in this nation college prices have risen seven percent per year. That means in 10 years college prices will have doubled and by the time your newborn is close to entering college it would have quadrupled."

Tarantino has some advice that isn't always easy to follow: save.

"Some of the most popular are going to be Roth IRAs and the State of Colorado's 529 plan," said Tarantino.

He believes it is important to save enough to be able to spend $80,000 a year for everything college-related. The best way to accrue that money is to put some aside every month.

For students they believe the increase in tuition is just part of getting an education these days.

"I am going to have student loans to pay back but I mean, I feel like it's just kind of part of life now," said one CSU student.