College education can be quite expensive, especially in the United States, a country where this situation has been highly contested. However, research done recently indicates that the financial burden may not be as bad as it is popularly thought. For in-state students at public universities, the net tuition and fees have declined significantly, now averaging just $2,480 per year. This amount is the average costs after the application of grants, scholarships and any other costs incurred, an amount that has been adjusted to inflation. These same costs were greater than a decade ago at about $4,140, therefore in the last ten years these costs have declined by forty percent.
Nonetheless, tuition is not the only thing college costs. Room and board as well as other expenses are usually the highest costs incurred by students. Despite this, the overall expenses of going to a public college have been on the decline including expenses for room and board. Concerning inflation and financial aid adjusted costs, the cost of in-state attendance at public colleges has reduced from $23,050 in 2014 to approximately $20,780 by 2024.
This decline in cost is common in higher education because of declining enrollment as well as students becoming more cost-conscious and widely publicizing tuition. Most students and families contemplating college education know more about the costs involved and this has made them resistant to paying high prices. Consequently, it has become even more difficult for colleges to raise tuition and many are offering cuts to some students to enroll them. Even independent non-profit institutions have had to lower net tuition, with average costs down from $18,680 in 2014 to $16,510 by 2024.
In the instance of community colleges, aid packages are so rich nowadays that a typical student is left with an average surplus of around $710 even after meeting the costs of, tuition, and other fees. The annual survey on college prices and student assistance by the College Board also notes a trend towards lower tuition rates, with state-subsidized institutions registering an all-time low of $11,610 in 2024 for average net tuition and fees compared to a ‘high’ of $12,830 in 2019.
And this is not only true for tuitions. The total aid available to students has increased, as shown by the increase in grant aid per student at public colleges which has gone from $8,000 in 2014 to $9,130 in 2024 after inflation. There has been an increase in financial assistance that has enabled a number of students to remain without student loans. More specifically, in 2023, around 50% of the students studying in public universities managed to complete their courses without any debts as opposed to two-fifths ten years earlier.
Although the popular view is that it is very expensive to attend college, the truth is different. In principle, the costs of attending a college have increased, but inflation has gone up even more than the increase in college prices, which means that parents are paying less in total today. With a few colleges projecting enrollment nose dives due to a disbelieving public, they have even moderated their plans for raising tuition.
The ‘buyer’s market’ has turned the tables for students on colleges which now need to fight for the enrolment. Colleges are adopting different pricing strategies in this environment and financial aid packages are in most cases available depending on the students’ earnings, diverse pricing in higher education. This model of pricing is like that of the airline industry in which dome set limits. Such a pricing strategy is complicated and sometimes difficult to understand by the students and their families.
