Copyright Forbes
While news accounts often attribute a recent decline in American’s confidence in the value of higher education to their concerns over the rising costs of attending college, a new report reveals a surprising trend: after adjusting for inflation, the out-of-pocket cost of tuition at public institutions has actually decreased over the past ten years. According to the College Board’s latest Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2025 report, average inflation-adjusted tuition declined by 7% at public four-year institutions over the past decade, and it dropped by 10% at public two-year colleges. Even at private, nonprofit four-year institutions, tuition (in 2025 dollars) increased by only 2% over the same time period. In addition, after adjusting for inflation, nearly every state saw declines in average public in-district/in-state tuition and fees in the last five years, according to the report. Published Tuition Prices In 2025-26, the average published (sticker) tuition and fees for full-time undergraduate students were: $11,950 at public four-year schools for in-state students; $340 higher than in 2024-25 (2.9% before adjusting for inflation). $31,880 at public four-year colleges for out-of-state students; $1,060 higher than in 2024-25 (3.4% before adjusting for inflation). $45,000 at private nonprofit four-year institutions; $1,750 higher than in 2024-25 (4.0% before adjusting for inflation). $4,150 at public two-year schools for in-district students; $110 higher than in 2024-25 (2.7% before adjusting for inflation). Net Tuition Costs While published "sticker” tuition prices attract the lion’s share of press headlines, they do not tell the whole story about college tuition. For that number, we need to consider “net tuition,” which is the cost that students actually pay after receiving institutional and other financial aid grants. Those figures underscore a different narrative. Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted net tuition costs have fallen on average: from $4,400 for in-state students attending public four-year schools in 2015-16 to $2,300 for those students in 2025-26. from $19,490 for students attending private, nonprofit colleges in 2015-16 to $16,910 for those students in 2025-26. from $10 for in-district students attending two-year colleges in 2015-16 to a surplus of $1,190 for such students in 2025-26, meaning their grants could be used to pay for other college-related expenses. Grant Aid One primary reason why net tuition costs are lower is that the amount of grant aid (the financial support that students don’t have to pay back) from state and federal sources as well as from their own institutions has increased. In 2024-25, a total of about $173.7 billion in grant aid was awarded to undergraduate and graduate students. Of that total, 31% was from the federal government, 10% came from state governments, 49% came from colleges and universities themselves, with the remaining 10% provided by employers and other private sources. MORE FOR YOU Between 2004-05 and 2024-25, average grant aid per full-time equivalent undergraduate student increased by 78% (from $6,780 to $12,080 in 2024 dollars). After more than a decade of decreases, total aid from Pell grants (the main source of federal grant support) increased 11% in 2023-24 and 19% in 2024-25, year over year. In 2024-25, $38.6 billion in Pell was awarded to 7.3 million recipients, up from $29.2 billion (in 2024 dollars) and 6.0 million recipients in 2022-23. Total Cost of Education Of course, tuition payments don’t tell the whole story about what a college education costs. Room, board, books, transportation and other education-related expenses have to be considered as well. But even with those additional outlays, the same trend as with tuition is apparent. After adjusting for inflation, the total net costs of attendance for in-state students at public universities declined from $24,310 in 2015-16 to $21,340 in 2025-26. Private, nonprofits saw the net cost of attendance fall from $40,480 a decade ago to $37,380 for the current year. Student Debt Cost containment has resulted in some progress on student debt as well. In 2023-24, 47% of bachelor’s degree recipients from public four-year institutions borrowed for their undergraduate education with an average debt of $27,420; 49% of bachelor’s degree recipients from private nonprofit four-year institutions borrowed with an average debt of $34,420 per borrower. However, between 2018-19 and 2023-24, the average cumulative student debt levels (in 2024 dollars) and the shares of bachelor’s degree recipients who borrowed declined in both the public and private, nonprofit four-year sectors. Across that time period, average debt was down about $5,760 for students in the public sector an approximately $6,980 for those attending a private, nonprofit. The report, which the College Board has published annually for decades, also summarizes national and state data on a host of other higher education topics, including sources of financial aid, student borrowing, enrollment, and institutional funding.
