A recent National Center for Education Statistics report notes that the net cost of attending a pubic two-year college increased at a slower rate than the inflation rate—or even decreased—between 1999 and 2002. And in October 2005, the College Board announced that tuition increases at public institutions have been significantly smaller in 2005–06 than they were in the last two years and that increases at private four-year colleges are similar to last year’s. Yet the perception exists among too many families that college is unaffordable.