Even though more students feel priced out of college entirely, there are efforts to improve access to higher education that seem to be working. In 2011, San Francisco made headlines when it became the first city in the nation to kick off a college savings account with $50 for every child entering kindergarten in the public school system. Her parents saved $2,200 in a universal children's savings account, which helped change her perspective about getting a degree, she said. "My family has always pushed me to go to college, but I felt bad," Saavedra added. "I didn't really know how much college cost; I just knew it was a lot of money."

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Persons: Yadira Saavedra, Saavedra Organizations: Finance, San, College, University of California Locations: San Francisco, Davis