Issue Primers

No start of an academic year goes by without renewed anxiety about the ever-increasing price of a college education. Although parents, students, and policymakers have voiced their concerns for years about colleges raising tuition and fees at rates far in excess of inflation, the global pandemic brought about by COVID-19 has exacerbated those concerns.

A survey of college students conducted early in 2021 found that 71% of respondents were worried about being able to cover the costs of college for the spring term and upcoming 2021–22 academic year. In response, students took on additional work, moved home, or took on more debt, while parents tapped into retirement and savings, took on additional work, or took out parent student loans.
For the 2022–23 school year, the average published tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates at public four-year colleges was $10,940, up 1.8% from the 2021–22 school year. For private non-profit four-year colleges, the average published tuition and fees was $39,400, up 3.5% from the previous year. And for public two-year colleges, the average published tuition and fees was $3,860, up 1.6% from the previous year. Over the last decade, published tuition and fees decreased 1% at four-year public colleges, increased 6% at private non-profit four-year colleges, and declined 4% at public two-year colleges.

As the price of college has changed, so has the number of students who need financial assistance. Between 2011–12 and 2021–22, the number of Pell Grant recipients has declined from 9.4 million to 6.1 million. Additionally, the federal government’s investment in student aid through federal grants, loans, work-study, and tax credits and deductions, adjusted for inflation, has decreased by 36% from $207.9 billion in 2011–12 to $130.5 billion in 2021–22.