U.S. Dept. of Education ranks Daytona State among most affordable

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 27, 2013) – On a day when Daytona State College’s District Board of Trustees voted to hold the line on overall tuition rates for the coming academic year, the U.S. Department of Education released data which places the college among the most affordable in the nation for public four-year institutions.

The education department’s National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) College Affordability and Transparency Center placed Daytona State’s annual tuition for full-time students among the top 50 most affordable of nearly 700 public four-year institutions that reported and well below thousands of additional private for-profit and non-profit four-year institutions that reported. Daytona State’s average 2012 annual tuition of $3,134 placed it at 56 percent less than the $7,135 national average for public four-year colleges and universities. The data was released and posted online June 27.
 
“The timing of this data couldn’t be better, as we announce a freeze on tuition rates for the upcoming year,” said Daytona State President Carol W. Eaton. “The DOE’s affordability ranking reflects our ongoing commitment to making a college education accessible to our students, despite budget challenges. We continually invest a tremendous effort into preserving academic quality while increasing efficiency and effectiveness at Daytona State.”
 
The college’s District Board of Trustees, during its meeting on June 27, voted to hold the line on tuition rates for the coming academic year, which starts in August. College officials cited the importance of keeping Daytona State’s programs as affordable as possible, particularly in light of the slowly rebounding area economy.
 
The College Affordability and Transparency Center rankings were generated using data collected by the NCES through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS is a mandatory data collection for institutions that participate in or are applicants for participation in any federal student financial aid program authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
 
This is the third time this year Daytona State has been recognized as a leader in higher education. On June 24, Community College Week, a leading publication focusing on higher education, ranked the college in its list of Top 100 Associate Degree Producers and, this past spring, U.S. News & World Report placed Daytona State’s online bachelor’s degree programs among the best in the nation, at No. 2.
 
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