College costs: After years of low prices, tuition has risen
Over the past several years, inflation has had a blind spot: the cost of college. But now the season of the apartment, even if it goes down in the evening, the study comes to an end.
Across the Board, tuition and fees are back on the rise at public and private colleges, according to new college-to-college data from the college board. At many institutions, price hikes are much higher than the rate of inflation — marking a departure from the pandering trend that has kept college costs tight as prices have risen sharply for everything else.
“It’s really a long-term return to normal,” says Sandy Baum, an economics professor at Urban Center College. “Somehow people haven’t paid too much attention to the fact that inflation-adjusted rates have fallen significantly over the past few years.”
For example, the average sticker price for four-year community college tuition was $13,150 for the 2020-2021 academic year before adjusting to $11,920 for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Now the changes in prices and fees of these institutions are issued for the first time since the 2016 academic year, according to data from the College Board.
And it’s not just the reading that costs the most. Housing costs and food costs “cause a lot of hardship” for students, too, Baum said. The price of room and board at a four-year community college, for example, is often much higher than tuition and fees. For the current academic year, the average cost of attendance is $30,990. Of that, about 45% is housing and food, while tuition represents 39% of expenses. (Remaining expenses for attendees include minor expenses, such as books and travel.)
These sticker prices only tell half the story — and “do not represent what the majority of students pay,” Baum said. That’s because most students receive grants that reduce the actual cost of college.
To accommodate that, the College Board calculates the average amount of attendance, which includes tuition, fees, room and board and aid students receive, and then adjusts it for inflation. At all types of institutions — four- and four-year community and four- and four-year colleges — the cost of attendance is rising for the first time in years.
The Net cost of attending a four-year college is now $21,340, which represents a 1.4% increase in income. The average college tuition now costs $37,380, an increase in prices above inflation.
“There’s a lot of financial pressure on colleges and universities right now, so it’s not surprising that there’s some growth [in costs]Baum said.
Why college costs are rising again
Colleges across the country are facing major policy, funding and enrollment challenges. In many cases, institutions raise prices to survive.
At the University of Minnesota, for example, the student newspaper reports that State Tuition increased by 6.5% at the city and rochester campuses, while student services, academic programs and other services received a 7% increase. In Oregon, State University systems are expected to raise tuition by 3% to 5%. University of Maryland undergraduate tuition increased by 3% to 4% depending on the campus.
According to the Education Trade Publication Hechinger Report, colleges receive reduced allocations from the federal and state governments.
State-level funding in particular is the largest source of revenue for community colleges, and many state budgets are facing shortfalls due to extensive cuts to Medicaid. Federally, the Trump administration has frozen or canceled grants to more than 600 colleges, according to a tracker from the Center for American Progress. A recent report from the State Hig High Exericial Socialers Association shows that pandemic-era recovery grants — which have helped weather grants and declining enrollment — have largely stalled.
“These institutions are very complex and connected, so cuts that happen in one place don’t just affect that place,” Sudith Scott-Clayton, professor of economics and education at Columbia University, told the Hechinger report. “They affect the whole financial picture.”
In general, what all these families cost is the high cost of tuition, room and board, and / or few financial opportunities to help foot the bill. All leading to higher out-of-pocket costs to attend college than in recent years.
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