NEW YORK — The price of a college degree continues to rise faster than inflation, with tuition and fees at public four-year colleges up an average 4.4 percent last fall, even more at private schools, a new survey has found.

        And loans provide a growing chunk of the extra money students need to pay for those degrees.

        Average in-state tuition and fees at public, four-year schools is $3,510 per semester — $148 more than a year earlier, according to the College Board. On-campus room and board averaged $4,960, up 5.1 percent.

        At private four-year colleges, tuition and fees average $16,332, up 5.2 percent. Room and board on campus was $6,209, a 4.2 percent increase.

        Only public two-year schools, chiefly community colleges, stayed below the inflation rate — but barely. Tuition roseto $1,705, up 3.4 percent, the survey found.

        Private two-year schools boosted tuition and fees to $7,458, a 7 percent rise.

        The recent increases push past inflation. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.7 percent in 1999; the first eight months of last year, consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. In 1999, college tuition and fees rose less than 5 percent.

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