Pennsylvania got a failing mark for the affordability of its colleges earlier this month, according to an annual "report card" by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonpartisan think tank based in San Jose, Calif.
The report, entitled Measuring Up 2006, grades each state on various aspects of its higher-education system.
It includes both private and public universities.
The report concluded that even after receiving financial aid, families who send their children to school in-state end up devoting a relatively high percentage of their incomes to college expenses.
The report also found that college has actually become less affordable in Pennsylvania in the last decade, especially for low-income families.
State education officials rebutted the report's findings.
Brian McDonald, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said that the net cost of attending one of Pennsylvania's 14 state schools has actually decreased over the past few years.
