The Cost of Learning: How College Tuition Has Changed Across the U.S. in Five Years
Key Insights
- Ivy League institutions raised their average tuition 14% between 2018 and 2022, more than any other category of college
- HBCUs only raised average tuition by 3% over five years, less than any other category we reviewed
- Most states increased their average public college tuition over these five years, but Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina saw decreases
College costs have increased dramatically over the last several decades, contributing to the current student debt crisis. Many public and private institutions are experiencing budget pressures that predated the pandemic but have worsened since then.
We examined tuition costs across the most recent five years of data to understand cost patterns that might be instructive. These trends include insight into which types of schools have increased tuition the most, what effects online education and school size have had on prices, and which states have experienced the highest tuition increases.
Read on to learn some recent trends in higher education costs.
Tuition Trends by Institution Type
We started our analysis of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System () for tuition costs at different types of colleges. These categories include public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit schools, as well as Ivy League institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The table below shows how college tuition has changed over the five most recent school years that have IPEDS data available (2018-2019 through 2022-2023).
Ivy League and Other Private Nonprofit Tuition Increases
In general, nonprofit private colleges raised their costs more than public ones between 2018 and 2022. The most dramatic increase was among the eight Ivy League institutions. These schools hiked their already considerable tuition rates by an average of 14% over five years. Factoring in fees and room and board raised the total yearly cost of some Ivies for the 2022-2023 academic year. These schools may believe they can get away with charging ever-higher prices because their elite reputation means that students still apply in record numbers each year.
Beyond the Ivies, all private nonprofit colleges without religious affiliations combined increased their tuition rates by an average of 10% between the 2018 and 2022 school years. But even this increase was topped by an 11% rise in religious college tuition in the same period.
Some of the biggest causes of tuition inflation include shrinking endowments during economic downturns 鈥� most recently as a result of COVID-19 鈥� and the ballooning costs of running a modern campus with the amenities that students have come to expect. These factors affect private colleges alongside public ones, though many elite universities still have considerably larger endowment funds from wealthy donors that they can draw on.
Public, For-Profit Private, and HBCU Tuition Increases
There鈥檚 great variation among these three categories of schools, but they all increased their average tuition rates less than 10% in the 2018-2023 period. Below, we鈥檝e detailed some of the takeaways from the data about each group.
Public Schools
Public colleges have historically provided the most affordable higher education out of all types of schools (as long as students qualify as in-state residents). But most state governments have been for more than a decade, forcing public colleges to charge higher rates to individual students.
Still, students at public schools experienced smaller average tuition increases than other enrollees. These colleges raised the price for in-state residents relatively more than for out-of-state students, though the average out-of-state tuition rate is still more than twice the average in-state amount.
For-Profit Private Schools
As the name implies, for-profit colleges are run like profit-making businesses. They tend to have the lowest overhead and fewest amenities, and many of them invest heavily in online programs for busy adult learners.
What鈥檚 more, for-profit schools tend to invest less of their revenue in improving student experiences and physical infrastructure than they do in marketing and profit sharing.Institutions with mostly online classes can also enroll more students without increasing their operating costs much 鈥� see the Impact of Online Learning section to learn why. These low operating costs might explain why for-profit schools can still earn money even though they haven鈥檛 raised tuition as sharply as public or nonprofit private schools.
For-profit enrollments have fallen in recent years as the media reports on poor performance outcomes and low graduation rates among students in this sector. It鈥檚 possible that colleges might try to keep tuition from ballooning too out of control so they can continue to entice applicants.
HBCUs
The HBCU category includes both public and nonprofit private schools, so there鈥檚 some crossover with other groups. When considered as a unit, these institutions had the lowest average tuition increases between the 2018 and 2022 academic years.
It鈥檚 not clear why HBCUs increased costs at such low rates, though declining enrollments may be one cause 鈥� in the past, some HBCUs have cut tuition for all or most students to increase their appeal. It鈥檚 also true that these institutions are used to operating with thin margins due to , so raising prices isn鈥檛 a big part of the administrative culture.
Impact of Online Learning on Tuition Costs
As mentioned, heavily online schools tend to have lower operating costs. Campuses require physical facilities for housing, dining, class meetings, and recreation, which are expensive to maintain and upgrade. Colleges can therefore add online students to their rosters for a fraction of the money they spend on campus-based learners.
Many schools promote their online degree programs as more affordable than their on-campus equivalents. This is especially true for public colleges, which often charge the in-state tuition rate to online students regardless of where the students claim residency.
Our data analysis showed that colleges where the majority of undergraduate learners took at least some online courses were more likely to see average tuition decreases between academic years 2018 and 2022. But most of these schools still raised prices, with about 40% of them adding $1,000-5,000 to their tuition.
Cost Increases by School Size
We wanted to find the impact of college size on tuition trends over the five most recent data years. We sorted schools using the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education:
- Very small: Under 1,000 degree-seeking students
- Small: 1,000-2,999
- Medium: 3,000-9,999
- Large: 10,000 or more
The analysis showed that small institutions experienced the highest average cost increases but very small colleges had the lowest increases. This finding was true for both out-of-state and in-state tuition and fees, as the following table shows.
It鈥檚 not clear why small and very small colleges handled their finances this way between 2018 and 2022. These findings are especially puzzling when compared to the first table: Private colleges had the largest five-year tuition increases, but very small colleges had relatively small increases even though these institutions are much more likely to be private than public. It鈥檚 possible that larger schools with more infrastructure tend to hike tuition more to help pay for maintenance and upgrades that very small colleges don鈥檛 need to worry about.
Public College Tuition Trends by Geography
Part of our research focused on tuition trends among the states (excluding Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico). State governments differ widely in their political make-up and policy preferences, but they all fund their public colleges and universities through yearly appropriations in their budgets.
Scan the following chart to see how tuition changed in each state over five years.
There鈥檚 plenty of room for nuance in these numbers. Here are some key insights that we pulled from the data.
Only three states had decreases in average tuition between 2018 and 2022: Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. All three are Southern states.
The average tuition increase across all states was 6.8% in five years. Twenty-four states experienced tuition hikes higher than this average.
Wyoming had the biggest percentage increase at 22.6%. But this was only a $1,200 increase over five years, which is almost exactly the same numerical increase as Virginia鈥檚 in that time. Wyoming still has relatively low public college tuition but Virginia鈥檚 is the highest in the country.
Florida consistently had the most affordable public college tuition from 2018 to 2022. It鈥檚 the only state that had a yearly average rate under $4,000 for each of those years.
Nineteen states had average annual public college tuition of $10,000 or higher in the academic year 2022.
There are a few reasons why a public college鈥檚 tuition might decrease on average. First, not all degree programs cost the same. For example, a college might discontinue a slightly more expensive science program with extra lab fees and add an online option for a different program that costs the same for both in-state and out-of-state students.
Second, political shifts may mean that a state legislature appropriates more money for public higher education, allowing schools to freeze or even lower tuition or fees. It鈥檚 rare but it can happen.
Keep in mind that states don鈥檛 just budget for tuition. They also fund grants that can help students pay for a public college or university. Students might qualify for grants based on financial need or other personal circumstances, such as being foster care leavers or intending to work in a critical state industry after graduating.
Bottom Line
Tuition has crept 鈥� or even leapt 鈥� upward in every category of higher education in recent years. Nonprofit private colleges raised their prices most dramatically, while public and for-profit private schools put more modest increases in place.
It鈥檚 important to understand that tuition is just one factor among many that affects the cost of college. All schools charge various mandatory fees, and campus students need to account for room and board or commuting costs. But financial aid can help offset some or all of these costs, so it鈥檚 always best to apply for as much aid as possible from government, institutional, or private sources.
Methodology
OnlineU used tuition data collected from College Scorecard for the 2018-2019 through the 2022-2023 academic years for this report. Institutional data was also obtained from the Integrated PostSecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), including Carnegie Classification, institutional control, religious affiliation, special designations, and location. Online status was separated by: schools with a majority of students enrolled in at least some distance education; and schools with a minority of students enrolled in at least some distance education.