To the Editor:

Re “The Cost of College for the Middle Class” (Sunday Review, Sept. 1):

Caitlin Zaloom opens by discussing how the average cost to attend a private, four-year university is $50,000 per year . This is the approximate average sticker price of these institutions. However, the amount actually paid after scholarships and tax benefits are deducted is well less than this — about $27,000 last year, or just a little more than half of the sticker price.

It is also important to remember that only about one in six undergraduates attend college in this sector. About 80 percent of students attend public institutions, where both the sticker and net prices are even more affordable, with the remainder in for-profit colleges.

Yes, middle-class families face challenges in paying for college. But sensationalizing the issue by focusing on a small proportion of all students serves only to diminish the arguments being made. Let’s start with factual data about the real price burden facing the majority of families before we start debating solutions.

Donald E. Heller

San Francisco

The writer is provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of San Francisco.