![]() A family whose income is $40,000 today pays an average net price of $5,000. Their current average sticker price is $80,000.Īt these institutions, college costs differ dramatically by family income (assuming typical asset values). I focus on 14 highly selective, private institutions for whom my data extend back to 2015-16. It provides students and their families a quick, ballpark estimate of their college costs at participating institutions, incorporating financial aid. One source uses data from institutions that partner with MyinTuition Corp., the nonprofit organization I founded and operate. In recent research, I have constructed data designed do so. Yet no publicly available data does a good job providing that information. What does everyone else pay? How much is their “net price,” defined as the sticker price minus grant-based financial aid that does not need to be repaid? For representative students with lower, middle and higher incomes, how much do they have to pay for college? How have their college costs changed over time? That’s what we want to know. It would be more appropriately labeled the “maximum cost of attendance.” ![]() Yet because of financial aid, only 1 in 6 dependent students attending four-year institutions pay that amount. The federal government requires institutions to post that number. It includes tuition, fees, room and board, travel, books and other expenses. The most accessible information is the sticker price (formally labeled the “cost of attendance”). That is the problem we need to solve.Ĭollege pricing is poorly understood, in part because documenting it is so hard. Still, lower-income students at most institutions are asked to pay much more than they can afford. And the amount they pay is actually falling, not rising. Most students receive financial aid and pay less than that, often considerably less. How many students can afford $30,000 to attend a public four-year institution, let alone more than $80,000 to attend an elite private institution?īut only students from higher-income families pay that amount. Indeed, the “sticker price” of college has almost tripled over the past 40 years, accounting for inflation. ![]() Phillip Levine Richard Howard/ Wellesley CollegeĬost must be the problem, many say.
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