Tuition and required fees have climbed at double-digit rates in public colleges and universities for the first time in nearly a decade, reflecting financial hardships over the last year. Prospects for improvement this year are bleak. The slower rise of private college rates is attributed to retrenchment and competitive pressures. (MSE)

Among findings of the annual College Board survey for 1990-91 is that four-year public college students are paying an average tuition of $1,809, up 7 percent; and private college students are paying $9,391, up 8 percent. A table lists, by state, the tuition and fees charged undergraduates at more than 3000 colleges and universities in both 1989-90…