The College Opportunity and Affordability Act signed into law in August requires the Department of Education to list the least affordable universities on its Web site.
The Education Department will post the universities with the highest percentage increases in tuition and fees in a three-year period as well as the 5 percent of universities with the highest tuition by July 2011.
AU tuition for the current academic year is $32,816, but tuition will increase 6 percent for the 2009-2010 academic year, according to AU's admissions Web site.
Tuition increases have put a strain on students, but other things balance into the increase, according to Associate Dean of Students Sara Waldron.
"AU is tuition-dependent to pay its costs," Waldron said. "It's not like some wealthy universities like Harvard, who live off the interest of their endowment."
Amanda Boxer, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said she thinks college has become less affordable.
"I think a lot of students feel limited to state schools because of cost even though a private school might provide a better opportunity," she said.
The bill is aimed at getting universities to lower tuition to avoid being on the Department of Education's "Wall of Shame." Tuition increases have outpaced inflation in recent years, and aid money has not increased to keep up with tuition. Currently, 43 states received an "F" for affordability of public schools, up from 36 states in 2004, according to a 2006 report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Kaia Vereide, a junior in the School of International Ser
