In October, the College Board released its annual "Trends in College Pricing 2007" and "Trends in Student Aid 2007" series, reporting that federal student aid to undergraduates showed slow growth, while published tuition prices continued to increase.

Increases in published prices for two- and four-year public colleges in 2007-08 were slightly larger than in 2006-07 but lower than the average rates of growth over the past five years. At private four-year colleges, where prices have risen somewhat less rapidly than in the public sector in recent years, the 2007-08 increase is similar to last year's.

In 2006-07, about three-quarters of full-time undergraduates received some form of financial aid. Though higher than the previous year, total federal grant funding to undergraduates was still lower in 2006-07 than it had been three years earlier, after adjusting for inflation. For the first time, "Trends in Student Aid 2007" reports separately on all forms of aid for undergraduate students.

Nearly half a million students received awards in 2006 under the two new federal student grant programs. Academic Competitiveness Grants go to selected first- and second-year Pell Grant recipients. Eligibility is based on curricular and GPA requirements. One criterion is a score of 3 or better on two Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Exams. In the first year of the program, 400,000 students received awards averaging $850. Also awarded for the first time in 2006-07 were SMART Grants, which go to selected third- and fourth-year Pell Grant recipients majoring in physical, life or computer science; engineering; mathematics; technology; or a specified foreign language. In the first year of the program, 80,000 students received awards averaging $3,875.

In 2006-07, estimated growth in student borrowing slowed. Borrowing from private sources continued to increase as a share of education loans but grew more slowly in 2006-07 as federal PLUS Loans became available to graduate students.

In addition to the reports, the College Board released a series of downloadable fact sheets, highlighting new data of particular interest to educators:

• What Every Parent Should Know About Paying for College (available in English and Spanish) can be of particular use to those educators advising students and families who are new to the college-application process.
• Institutional Finance looks at some factors behind increased tuition — including state and local appropriations and faculty and staff expenditures — and provides an analysis of endowment funds. Data show these funds are concentrated in a small number of colleges, with the wealthiest 10 percent holding most of the assets.
• Variation in Prices documents the considerable variation in tuition across regions and states, while Tuition and Fees over Time provides a 30-year look at rising prices.

The reports and the full set of fact sheets, as well as additional data tables, are available at www.collegeboard.com/trends.