The College Board's Trends in College Pricing report, released this week, reveals that most public colleges have continued driving tuition costs downward. At both public four-year institutions and community colleges, average published tuition and fees remain lower than they were a decade ago.
Even private four-year colleges - which saw a modest increase this year - are charging less than their peak rates and hover near decade-old levels.
Another way to see the change over time is to look at the index relative to 1996. In the chart below, you can see that tuition and fees at public colleges have fallen to where they were in 2010-11.
The report also shows that published prices vary dramatically by state. For community colleges, average tuition ranges from $1,440 in California to $8,900 in Vermont. At public four-year institutions, students pay as little as $6,360 in Florida or as much as $18,090 in Vermont.
Net prices - what students actually pay - have also continued falling nationwide. At community colleges, the average net cost for tuition, fees, housing, and food has dropped to $9,660, the lowest level since the College Board began tracking this data. Public four-year institutions show similar progress: the average net cost of $16,200 has returned to pre-Great Recession levels from 2010-11. Private four-year colleges follow the same downward trend, with average net costs of $32,830, roughly half the published sticker price. These figures reflect costs for first-time, full-time undergraduate students.
It's worth noting that net tuition, housing, and food at public four-year colleges and universities is almost half of the published cost of attendance, which underscores the need for high-quality college advising, cost of attendance reform, and greater transparency in college costs so that students understand what they will actually have to pay for college.
Importantly, the report notes that the almost steady increase in grant aid, particularly in Pell Grants, has fueled this drop in net prices. At public two-year colleges, average grant aid almost doubled between 2006-07 and 2004-25 and since 2009-10, first-time full-time students have received enough grant aid to cover tuition entirely.
State and local governments have also dramatically increased their investment in higher education and made this progress cited in this report possible. “In the last 30 years, total state and local funding increased by 58% after adjusting for inflation,” states the report.
The implementation of the budget reconciliation act combined with macroeconomic pressure from tariffs, may arrest this trend in coming years, but for now, it’s good news for students.