In this handbook, colleges are grouped according to key factors that affect the tuition they charge and the financial aid they give out. These factors are described below. Public or private . On the other hand, many private colleges have relatively more money to help students who can't afford the higher tuition. Two-year colleges are mostly public, they are called community colleges .
States differ in the amount they charge to attend their public colleges.
There are also differences across states in the amount of student aid they offer. Some states keep tuitions high, but make up for it by providing more aid to their students. Many states have responded to recent increases in the price of college by establishing new or expanding existing state scholarships, college savings-trusts, and prepaid tuition programs. In return the college locks in the current tuition that they charge. Only Massachusetts had both a prepayment and savings-trust program in early 1999, but many states were debating one or the other at the time this handbook was written.