This article is completely wrong. The basic claim of the article is that according to the College Board, the amount students actually spend to attend college has increased 300% over the last 30 years. Is this actual true?

College Board does track the amount students spend, they call this statistic net sticker price -- that is, sticker price minus all grants, scholarships, and tax credits. However, they only track net sticker price back to 1990.

The figure that this article is citing is sticker price, which isn't the amount that students spend, as the article claims, but rather it's just the list price. (This guy is basically quoting the fake price that's crossed out on Amazon that no one actually pays so that they can trick you into thinking you're saving money.) Here is the difference, with both statistics carried as far back as they go from the College Board data:

"The average sticker price for yearly tuition and required fees (not including room and board) at private non-profit 4-year institutions increased from $10,378 in 1972-73 (2012 dollars) to $29,056 in 2012-13. At public institutions the cost increased from $2,225 to $8,655.

The net yearly tuition and required fees (sticker price minus total grant aid and tax benefits) at public 4-year colleges for in-state residents increased from $1,840 in 1990-91 (2012 dollars) to $2,910 in 2012-13 . At private non-profit institutions the net price increased from $11,060 in 1990-91 to $13,380 in 2012-13."

Sources: CollegeBoard - http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/cp-2012-t... - Tuition and Fee and Room and Board Charges over Time in 2012 Dollars, 1972-73 through 2012-13, Selected Years

http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/cp-2012-t... - Table 7 - Average Net Price for Full-Time Students over Time — Public Institutions

http://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/cp-2012-t... - Table 8 - Average Net Price for Full-Time Students over Time — Private Institutions

This isn't to say that it's impossible that the net sticker price has increased by 300% -- it may have, or may not have, there's no way to know. But the College Board data certainly doesn't doesn't show this, which is the claim the author is making.

Similarly, the author claims that the average student this year at a private college spent $29,000 on their education. This is also a blatant lie. As you can see from the actual College Board data, which this guy claims is his source, the real figure there is $13,380. And it's not like this guy doesn't know the difference, since the data for both is on the same page -- this entire article is just a bunch of blatant lies designed to promote whatever his bullshit agenda is.