Welcome back to the PNPI Explorer blog series, where we examine higher education data in different states. This week’s spotlight is on Missouri.

In 2021 in Missouri, there were 90 institutions serving 251,979 full-time equivalent (FTE) students. Using the Comparison Tool, we can examine some of the nuances of college cost at Missouri institutions. Missouri is in the top quartile of average cost of attendance, slightly above the national average ($29.1K vs. $28.2K). It remains in the top quartile despite being close to the national average because of clear outliers at the top of the distribution.

Average cost of attendance does not factor in institution’s tuition discounting however. If we look at the average tuition discount rate of Missouri institutions we see that, relative to other states, Missouri discounts much of their relatively high cost of attendance. Missouri is the seventh highest state in terms of average tuition discount rates at 34.4%, 5.6 percentage points higher than the national average.

Having a high tuition discount rate changes the landscape of what students actually pay at Missouri institutions. If we look at average net price, rather than cost of attendance, Missouri is lower relative to other states thanks to their discount rates. The average net price of Missouri institutions is $15.1K, slightly lower than the national average of $15.7K.

Find something interesting about Missouri that you would like to share with us? Drop us a note via our feedback page or discuss your findings on LinkedIn! Check back next week when we explore data insights about Montana.

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