College costs a lot more than it used to. According to a 2010 Trends in College Pricing report by College Board, since the year 2000, public four-year tuition and fees have increased more than 5 percent annually above inflation. Tuition at public two-year colleges and private four-year colleges also increased by 3 percent above inflation.The economy stinks, and your parents have no money. Well, hopefully that's not 100 percent accurate, but there's definitely some truth to that statement. While parents still very much value contributing to their children's college tuition, the amount that families can afford to contribute has declined.