None of the following is good news: the cost of college education keeps soaring upward. But to promote transparency, the U.S. Department of Education urges parents, students and prospective students to visit its College Affordability and Transparency Center.

There, one will see how expensive two- and four-year public and private higher education has become, and where tuition prices may be heading. At the site, you can compare schools in the various academic sectors. The reports provided include tuition and required fees, and the net price is the cost of attendance, minus grant and scholarship aid.

For an African-American high school student of limited or middle class means, in this tough, post-recessionary period, higher tuition may result in trimmed aspirations. The wallet stunner, and dream deferrer, is when parents find out how much tuition has soared since 2007.

To do that, go to the Center’s home page and scroll down to the section titled “How fast are college costs going up?” The tool shows you the rise in tuition during the past four years.

If that is not enough reality for you, the National Association of Budget Officers reported that in-state tuition nationally rose 7.9 percent, and the College Board has said that academic cost increases are outpacing national inflation.

The positive spin on the information above is what many older people have always told the younger ones: “Once you get your education, no one can take it from you."

Getting higher education is the difficulty, so let’s not talk about where the jobs are after graduation.