"In many cases, students who applied to college for the 2009-10 academic year actually received more financial help than the previous year’s applicants," Kiplinger reports. "Independent colleges boosted financial aid by 9% while keeping tuition increases -- an average of 4.3% -- to their lowest levels in four decades (increasing the average cost of a year at a private school to about $35,600). Some schools, worried about competition from public schools, accepted more applicants. And many vigorously pruned expenses. Result? Families found that private college was still affordable, and enrollments generally held steady."