College students and their parents should brace for sharp tuition increases as the widening economic downturn begins to hit campuses across the country, an organization of higher education officials said yesterday. The warning came in response to an annual national survey of tuition and fees that showed that college costs rose only modestly for the current academic year. But that report, released yesterday by the College Board, was based on data collected before June and did not reflect many of the economic trials embroiling the country. The financial landscape has become far more grim, according to the American Council on Education, a coalition of more than 1,600 college and university presidents. ‘I am afraid this year’s report may prove only to be a snapshot of a time in history that we might soon be referring to as ‘the good old days,’ ‘ said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. At least 17 states, struggling to balance budgets at a time of plummeting tax revenue, are beginning to slash appropriations for their public colleges. Private schools are also being squeezed as their endowments wither in the stock market and donors grow more cautious. ‘I am concerned that we […]