Trends in College Pricing 2018 Highlights

Below are some highlights from Trends in College Pricing 2018. Download the report's full highlights and visit our resource library to see related tables, figures, and more.

Published or Sticker Prices

Across all sectors, published prices rose much more slowly from 2013-14 to 2018-19 than in the preceding five years.

From 2017-18 to 2018-19, tuition and fees increased less than 4% across all sectors before adjusting for inflation.
From 1988-89 to 2018-19, average tuition and fees tripled at public four-year and more than doubled at public two-year and private nonprofit four-year institutions, after adjusting for inflation.

See Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, and Figure 4B for more details.

Published college prices vary widely, depending on the type of institution and where it's located.

Across the 50 states and the District of Columbia, average 2018-19 in-district tuition and fees in 2018-19 range from $1,430 in California to $8,190 in Vermont.
Average 2018-19 in-state tuition and fees range from $5,400 in Wyoming to over $16,000 in New Hampshire and Vermont.

See Figure 5 and Figure 6 for more details.

Over 70% of full-time undergraduate students receive grant aid that helps them pay for college.

At public two-year and public four-year institutions, the estimated 2018-19 average net tuition and fees for full-time undergraduate students are higher than they were for 2008-09; at private nonprofit four-year institutions, the estimated average is about the same as it was for 2008-09.
In 2015-16, more than half of full-time students at public two-year institutions and more than a quarter of full-time students at public four-year institutions received enough grant aid to completely cover their tuition and fees.
In that same academic year, full-time students were more likely to pay less than $5,000 in net tuition and fees at private nonprofit institutions than at for-profit institutions.

The income gap between families with the lowest and highest incomes is growing.

From 1987 to 2017, families with incomes in the bottom 20% saw their incomes rise 8%, compared to income increases of 46% for families in the top 20%.

See Figures 20A, 20B for more details.

2016-17 was the fifth year in a row that state and local funding per student increased after four years of decline.

See Figures 15A, 15B for more details.

In recent years, enrollment at public two-year and for-profit institutions has been declining.

In fall 2016, about 1 million fewer students enrolled at public two-year colleges than enrolled in fall 2010. That’s a decline of 12%.
For the same years, about 840,000 fewer students enrolled at for-profit institutions. That’s a decline of 42%.

See Figure 21 for more details.