4-year degree's cost at public university up 15% from 2008 to 2010 ( Denver Post )

When those college-tuition bills come in, be prepared for sticker shock.

The average tuition at a four-year public university climbed 15 percent between 2008 and 2010, fueled by state budget cuts for higher education and increases of 40 percent and more at universities in such states as Georgia, Arizona and California.

The U.S. Department of Education's annual look at college affordability also found significant price increases at the nation's private universities, including at for-profit institutions, where the net price for some schools is now twice as high as Harvard.

At Full Sail University, a film-and-art school in central Florida, the average price of tuition, fees, books and other expenses totals $43,990, even when grants and scholarships are factored in. The average net price for an incoming Harvard student: $18,277, according to the department. Net price is cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that students need to be smart consumers and that states need to do their part by making higher education a priority in their budgets. Forty percent of states cut higher-education spending last year, the most important factor in tuition increases.

"As a nation, we need more college graduates in order to stay competitive in the global economy," Duncan said. "But if the costs keep on rising, especially at a time when family incomes are hurting, college will become increasingly unaffordable for the middle class."

Pennsylvania State University had the highest in-state tuition for a four-year public university at $15,250 during the 2010-11 school year. When the costs of room, board and other expenses are factored in, the total rises to $19,816, the fourth- highest net price nationwide.

Bill Mahon, a spokesman for the school, said a 19.6 percent cut in state funding last year, coupled with a decade of weak state support, "has left Penn State increasingly reliant on students and their families to fund most of the costs of their Penn State education."

Zach Zimbler, who graduated from Penn State this spring with a degree in information sciences, said his total tuition came out to about $50,000 for four years. He has loans totaling about $25,000. He said many students don't realize how much debt they've amassed until it comes time to pay.

"The students themselves don't really know what they're getting into," he said.

In Colorado, tuition and fees at the University of Colorado at Boulder for the 2012-13 school year will be $9,482. In 2011-12, the Colorado School of Mines charged in-state tuition of $12,585, while Colorado State University charged $8,040.

The College Affordability and Transparency lists were first published last year to fulfill a reporting requirement passed into law in 2008. The lists track tuition and fees as well as the average net price at public, private and for-profit colleges and universities.

Last week, presidents from 10 colleges and universities agreed to provide students information on costs, financial aid and monthly loan payments after graduation in an easy-to-understand form.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are struggling against a July 1 deadline to avert a doubling of interest rates on new federal student loans for 7.4 million people.

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The highs and lows of higher education

The highest and lowest tuitions for public and not-for-profit colleges and universities:

Public, four-year or above:

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus: $15,250

Haskell Indian Nations University, Kansas: $430

Private not-for-profit, four-year or above:

Connecticut College: $43,990

Berea College, Kentucky: $910

Source: Department of Education

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