Shrinking enrollment in local postsecondary institutions is due, in part, to ballooning tuition costs, according to a new report from Louisville's 55,000 Degrees.
The group found undergraduate enrollment at local higher education institutions is down 12 percent since 2010. Tuition fees at four-year institutions in Louisville are up more than 30 percent since 2008. And for two-year colleges in Louisville, tuition has spiked 25 percent.
By 2020, more than 60 percent of jobs in Kentucky will require a postsecondary degree, according to the report. And in Louisville, nearly 75 percent of "family-supporting" jobs set to be added in the next decade will call for some form of postsecondary education.
In an interview with WFPL News, the report's author, Matt Berry, said the tuition cost — which he calls the "sticker price" — is different from the "net price."
"Net price takes a look at total cost of attendance," he said, like books, transportation, housing and meals.
Listen to the full interview with Berry in the audio player above.
