Trends in College Pricing

Overview > Notes and Sources

The Annual Survey of Colleges

Prices described in this report are based on data reported to the College Board by colleges and universities in the Annual Survey of Colleges. Data for 2009-10 are from an online questionnaire distributed in October 2008, with data collected and reviewed through early September 2009. Tuition and fee figures are based on charges to full-time students over the course of a nine-month academic year of 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours. For those institutions with tuition and fees that vary by year of study, weighted average undergraduate tuition levels are used in the analysis. We are not able to estimate differences in tuition and fees by program, but rely on average prices reported by institutions.

Enrollment-Weighted and Unweighted Data

This report provides enrollment-weighted average prices. Charges reported by colleges with larger full-time enrollments are weighted more heavily than those of institutions with smaller enrollments. Unweighted average prices, with the charges of all reporting institutions treated equally, are www.collegeboard.com/trends.

The most recent enrollment data available are for fall 2008. While for 2008-09 and earlier years, prices are weighted by same-year enrollments, for 2009-10, prices are weighted by fall 2008 enrollments. In other words, the percentage changes reported in Tables 1a and 1b reflect only price changes, not changes in enrollment patterns. In contrast, the historical data on changes in enrollment-weighted prices illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 reflect changes in both prices charged and in the distribution of full-time students across institutions.

In-State and Out-of-State Tuition and Fees

In-state tuition and fees are weighted by full-time enrollment. Out-of-state tuition and fees are calculated by adding the nonresident premium, weighted by full-time out-of-state enrollment, to average in-state tuition and fees.

Institutions Included in Calculations

Out of the 3,519 public two-year, public four-year, private not-for-profit four-year, and for-profit institutions that were surveyed in both 2008 and 2009, 2,958 were included in this year’s analysis, including over 98% of the surveyed schools in the public and private not-for-profit sectors and 38% of those in the for-profit sector. Our imputation process allows us to include schools for which we are missing one year of data. We exclude from our calculations military academies and other institutions that report zero tuition. Detailed information on the number of institutions included in the analysis for each sector is available online.

Revision of Base-Year Values

The prices for 2008-09 used in this analysis differ somewhat from the 2008-09 averages reported last year. One factor contributing to the revision is the reweighting of the prices, shifting from fall 2007 to fall 2008 full-time enrollment figures. The base-year numbers also shift because several hundred institutions submit revised tuition figures for the previous year. The recomputed average for 2008-09 tuition and fees at public four-year institutions is $6 higher than the level we reported last year for in-state students and $8 higher for out-of-state students. The recomputed average for 2008-09 tuition and fees is $34 higher than the level we reported last year for private not-for-profit four-year institutions and $30 lower for public two-year institutions. Our estimate of the average 2008-09 price for for-profit students is $269 higher than it was last year.

Net Price Calculations

The calculations of average net price in Figure 7 for full-time undergraduate students are a best approximation and are based on the aggregate amounts of each type of aid reported in Trends in Student Aid 2009 and on the allocation of each type of aid across institution types and between part-time and full-time students reported in 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) data. Total charges for public two-year students include an estimate of housing and food expenses for students not living with their parents, based on commuter room and board expenses reported by institutions when available and derived from public four-year room and board charges for earlier years in the analysis. The net price estimates reported here are not exactly comparable to those that appeared in 2008 because some figures have been updated.

Calculations of net price by income level in Figures 8 and 9 are based on NPSAS data. In contrast to the annual average net price calculations in Figure 7, only grant aid is subtracted from published prices to yield net prices. Federal tax credits and deductions are not considered here. Grant totals do not match precisely those used in Figure 7, because NPSAS estimates differ somewhat from the data reported in Trends in Student Aid 2009.

Endowments

Data on endowments are from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and Commonfund Institute, supplemented by data from IPEDS for institutions for which NACUBO or Commonfund data are not available. Public university foundation endowment assets are included.

Inflation Adjustment

The Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) is used to adjust for inflation. We use the CPI-U in July of the year in which the academic year begins. See ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt for changes in the CPI-U over time.

Carnegie Classification 2005: Basic Classification

“Associate colleges” include institutions where all degrees are at the associate level, or where bachelor’s degrees account for less than 10% of all undergraduate degrees; “doctorategranting universities” include institutions that award at least 20 doctoral degrees per year (excluding doctoral degrees that qualify recipients for entry into professional practice, such as the J.D., M.D., Pharm.D., DPT, etc.); “master’s colleges and universities” include institutions that award at least 50 master’s degrees per year; “baccalaureate colleges” include institutions where baccalaureate degrees represent at least 10% of all undergraduate degrees and that award fewer than 50 master’s degrees or fewer than 20 doctoral degrees per year. All of the categories above exclude “special focus institutions” and “tribal colleges.”

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