- Highlights
- Introduction
- Published Prices, 2009-10
- Total Student Budget, 2009-10
- Prices over Time in
Current Dollars - Prices over Time in
Constant Dollars - Unweighted Prices in
Current Dollars - Unweighted Prices in
Constant Dollars - Variation in Tuition and Fees
- Variation in Tuition and
Fee Increases - Prices by Region
- Prices by State
- Net Price
- Institutional Expenditures
- Institutional Revenues
- Public Appropriations
- Endowments
- Enrollment
- Degrees Granted
- Family Income
- Notes and Sources
- List of Figures/Tables
- Archive
- Report: Trends in College Pricing 2009 (.pdf/1.8MB)
- Trends in Student Aid
- Back to Trends Main Page
Published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities rose at an average annual rate of 4.9% per year beyond general inflation from 1999-2000 to 2009-10, more rapidly than in either of the previous two decades. The rate of growth of published prices at both private not-for-profit four-year and public two-year institutions was lower from 1999-2000 to 2009-10 than in either of the previous two decades. more
Current economic circumstances have made the issue of rising college prices particularly salient. As Trends in College Pricing 2009 goes to press, family income has been stagnant or has declined at all levels of the income distribution over the past decade and the unemployment rate is approaching 10%. Yet the unemployment rate for individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher is about half the rate for high school graduates (and the rate for those with some college falls between these two) (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). Median income for families with a householder with at least a four-year college degree is more than $50,000 per year higher (and for those with an associate degree it is $20,000 higher) than for those with only a high school education. A college education is critical to long-term financial security, but feels out of reach to many students and families in today’s economy. more
