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SALT LAKE CITY — The cost of attending college continues to go up in Utah and across the country. But the average starting wages for college graduates in the state is also on the rise, according to a recent national study.
Tuition, living expenses, scholarships and grants, and starting wages salaries are all part of what students should consider when deciding where to go to school, according to the report by SmartAsset, a financial consulting group based in New York.
"We try to kind of balance out what students and families are paying, what they're putting out into getting their education, and also what they're getting in return, where people are getting the best value," said AJ Smith, vice president of content at SmartAsset.
"The important thing is to start thinking about it," she said.
Average starting salaries have gone up for graduates at most Utah institutions. Utah State University graduates saw the highest pay raise of $3,300, for a total of $47,700 annually. Weber State University graduates are now earning an average of $51,100, about $2,300 more than last year's graduates, the report states.
Utah college graduates overall are making $47,363 in their first jobs, compared with $45,011 nationally.
When combining costs and benefits, Brigham Young University topped the "best value" ranking on the report for the second year in a row, with a national rank of 44th. BYU was followed by the University of Utah, USU, WSU, Westminster College and Southern Utah University — identical to last year's rankings.
The Utah State Board of Regents last year approved a 3 percent increase in tuition for public colleges in the state, with a 3.5 percent tuition increase at the U. On average, Utah resident students pay $4,463 in tuition, compared with $6,559 nationally.
Utah is home to two of the top 10 most affordable colleges in the country, according to the study. Southwest Applied Technology Center in Cedar City ranked third nationally, with average tuition of $335. Mountainland Applied Technology College in Lehi ranked fourth nationally, with tuition averaging $496.
Scholarship and grant amounts also increased at each institution, except for USU, whose average financial aid package of $6,093 is $46 less than it was last year. SUU's average financial aid award increased by $1,959 for a total of $6,002. Utah students receive an average of $4,463 in financial aid.
Student retention, which measures the portion of freshmen who re-enroll for a second year of college, increased almost everywhere in Utah. The U., which has the highest public tuition rates, also has the highest retention rate of 89 percent. Statewide, that rate is 73 percent.
"This shows that people are seeing the value themselves by coming back and staying with the school," Smith said.
But taking on debt is the only way to stay in college for some students.
Utah students have historically been slow to borrow money to pay for tuition compared with their national peers. But since 2006, outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has steadily risen from a total of $509 billion to $1.27 trillion in 2014, producing an average student debt load of $28,400, according to the SmartAsset report.
It's the result of a combination of factors, such as rising tuition costs and unclaimed financial aid, Smith said.
"That phenomenon makes it even more important for people to think: 'What am I trying to get out of this? What am I willing to put in?'" she said.
