College graduates in the class of 2013 typically left campus owing closing to $30,000 in student loans, according to a new report out today. That’s a record high, and up 2 percent over the prior year, the Project on Student Debt reports.

But as Kim Clark pointed out in her coverage for Money magazine, there was some good news, as “31% of students earned bachelors’ degrees last year without having to borrow a penny, up 2 percentage points from the class of 2012.”

Also out today is a new report on college financial aid from the College Board. Researchers found that, for a third consecutive year, the total amount of money borrowed by students had declined. Tuition prices are also growing at a slower rate than in previous years. 

From Kaitlin Mulhere of Inside Higher Ed: 

But while the rate of price increases is slowing, the accumulation is still formidable, as Sandy Baum, one of the report’s authors, points out. For public four-year colleges, the published tuition and fee prices are 3.25 times higher than they were 30 years ago. At public two year-year and private four-year colleges, the prices are 2.5 times higher.

“We’ve been living with these price increases for a long time, and people have been living with this cumulative effect,” said Baum, a professor of higher education at the Graduate School of Education & Human Development at George Washington University.

You can expect discussion of both reports during today’s EWA University webinar on covering student financial aid, which will take place at 2 p.m. EDT.  We’re featuring three veteran higher ed reporters: Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report; Beckie Supiano from the Chronicle of Higher Education; and Ry Rivard of Inside Higher Ed. 

There will also be a Q&A session, making it a terrific opportunity to get the answers you need. Ready to register? The link is here.

If you missed Part One of EWA University earlier this week — looking at the research on how college financial aid policies are influencing admissions decisions and student outcomes  – you can watch the replay.

In the meantime, take a look at EWA’s Topics pages on higher education, including college finance and affordability.