College Board: Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020
The College Board recently published their Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020 report which provides timely updates on college pricing and the amount of student aid that is available to help students and families pay for college.
The trends in college pricing for the 2020-2021 year are as follows:
- Public two-year in-district: $3,770, $70 higher than in 2019-20 (1.9% before adjusting for inflation).
- Public four-year in-state: $10,560, $120 higher than in 2019-20 (1.1% before adjusting for inflation).
- Public four-year out-of-state: $27,020, $250 higher than in 2019-20 (2.1% before adjusting for inflation).
- Private nonprofit four-year: $37,650, $770 higher than in 2019-20 (2.1% before adjusting for inflation).
- Since 2009-10, first-time full-time undergraduate students at public two-year colleges have been receiving enough grant aid on average to cover their tuition and fees.
- In 2020-21, first-time full-time students at public two-year colleges need to cover an estimated $8,860 on average in room and board after grant aid, in addition to another $5,700 in books and supplies, transportation, and other personal expenses.
The trends in student aid are as follows:
- In 2019-20, undergraduate students received an average of $14,940 in financial aid per full-time enrolled (FTE) student: $9,850 in grants (including Pell Grants), $4,090 in federal loans, $920 in federal education tax credits and deductions, and $80 in Federal Work-Study (FWS).
- Graduate students received an average of $27,310 in financial aid per FTE student: $9,260 in grants (including federal grants), $17,470 in federal loans, $520 in tax credits and deductions, and $60 in FWS.
- In 2019-20, undergraduate and graduate students received $242.0 billion in grants from all sources (federal, state, institutional, private, and employer), FWS, federal loans, and federal tax credits and deductions. In addition, students borrowed about $14 billion from nonfederal sources.
- Pell Grant expenditures rose from $35.7 billion (2019 dollars) in 2009-10 to $42.0 billion in 2010-11 but declined to $27.8 billion by 2019-20.
- The $6,345 maximum Pell Grant in 2020-21 is 4% lower in inflation-adjusted dollars than it was 10 years earlier.
- After rapid growth in annual borrowing between 2004-05 and 2009-10, total federal loans to undergraduate students declined by 37% (29.6 billion in 2019 dollars) between 2009-10 and 2019-20; federal loans to graduate students decreased by 3% ($1.1 billion).
- In 2019-20, after the ninth consecutive decline in annual education borrowing from all sources, including federal student loans, students and parents borrowed $102.0 billion, down from $134.1 billion (in 2019 dollars) in 2010-11.
- As of March 2020, 55% of borrowers with outstanding education debt owed less than $20,000; 45% of the outstanding federal education loan debt was held by the 10% of borrowers owing $80,000 or more.
