Trends in College Pricing: Highlights

Review highlights from the Trends in College Pricing 2025 report. You can find the full report, Excel data, and PowerPoint presentation in the Resources section at the bottom of this page.

Published or Sticker Prices

In 2025-26, the average published (sticker) tuition and fees for full-time undergraduate students are:

• Public four-year in-state: $11,950, $340 higher than in 2024-25 (2.9% before adjusting for inflation).
• Public four-year out-of-state: $31,880, $1,060 higher than in 2024-25 (3.4% before adjusting for inflation).
• Public two-year in-district: $4,150, $110 higher than in 2024-25 (2.7% before adjusting for inflation).
• Private nonprofit four-year: $45,000, $1,750 higher than in 2024-25 (4.0% before adjusting for inflation).

One Price Doesn't Fit All

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

• Across the United States, average 2025-26 public two-year in-district tuition and fees range from $1,440 in California and $2,250 in New Mexico to $8,900 in Vermont.
• Average 2025-26 public four-year in-state tuition and fees range from $6,360 in Florida and $7,430 in Wyoming to $18,000 in New Hampshire and $18,090 in Vermont.

Net Prices

The majority of full-time undergraduate students receive grant aid that helps them pay for college.

• On average, first-time full-time students at public two-year colleges have been receiving enough grant aid to cover their tuition and fees since 2009-10.
• After adjusting for inflation, the average net tuition and fees paid by first-time full-time in-state students enrolled in public four-year institutions peaked in 2012-13 at $4,450 (in 2025 dollars) and declined to an estimated $2,300 in 2025-26.  
• After adjusting for inflation, the average net tuition and fees paid by first-time full-time students enrolled in private nonprofit four-year institutions declined from $19,810 (in 2025 dollars) in 2006-07 to an estimated $16,910 in 2025-26. 

Family Income

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

• Between 1994 and 2024, the average income increased by 58% for the top quintile of families and by 33% for the lowest quintile of families, after adjusting for inflation.

Institutional Finances

In 2023-24, state and local funding per student for public higher education at the national level was $11,680, about the same as in 2022-23, after adjusting for inflation. In 2023-24, state and local funding per student ranged from $5,510 in New Hampshire and $5,940 in Vermont to more than $20,000 in Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, and Alaska.

Enrollment

Total postsecondary enrollment rebounded in fall 2023 after three years of declines during Covid-19. Enrollment grew by 455,000 (2%)—from 18.5 million to 18.9 million between fall 2022 and fall 2023.

• Between fall 2019 (pre-Covid-19) and fall 2023, total enrollment declined by 587,000 (8.6%) in the public two-year sector. Total enrollment in this sector declined by 845,000 (12.3%) between fall 2019 and fall 2022 but grew by 258,000 (4.3%) between fall 2022 and fall 2023.