College costs have been on a mostly upward trend for the last two decades. In addition to rising tuition prices, paying for housing, food, transportation, books and other school-related fees usually adds thousands of dollars to college expenses.
To cut costs and limit student debt, many families consider in-state colleges. But data from the past 20 years shows that the average cost of tuition and fees at both private and public National Universities – research-oriented schools that offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees – has risen significantly.
The two charts below show 20 years of tuition changes – with one accounting for inflation – as reported to U.S. News by the 342 ranked National Universities included in the 2024 Best Colleges rankings. Tuition and fees are displayed by the rankings edition year, with the data for 2024 gathered by U.S. News in spring and summer of 2023. Here’s a quick breakdown of the tuition changes over the last two decades.
Not adjusted for inflation
- Tuition and fees at private National Universities have jumped about 132%.
- Out-of-state tuition and fees at public National Universities have risen about 127%.
- In-state tuition and fees at public National Universities soared by about 158%.
Adjusted for inflation
- Tuition and fees at private National Universities have increased about 40%.
- Out-of-state tuition and fees at public National Universities have risen about 38%.
- In-state tuition and fees at public National Universities have grown about 56%.
In comparing the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years, tuition rates at private National Universities increased by about 5%. The costs of in-state and out-of-state tuition and fees at public National Universities also rose, by nearly 4% and 1.4%, respectively.
However, when taking into account inflation, in-state and out-of-state tuition at public National Universities decreased by 0.3% and 2.5%, respectively, between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
That decline isn’t new. After a climb in pricing for more than a decade, the average price of tuition and fees at these schools lowered in recent years. Since the 2020-2021 academic year, for instance, tuition and fees for in-state students and out-of-staters have decreased by 10% and about 13%, respectively.
Tuition and fees at private National Universities, on the other hand, increased slightly over the last year, by about 1% when adjusted for inflation. Tuition and fees at these private schools have increased over the last two decades, except from 2020-2021 to 2022-2023, when the average cost declined by about 8%.
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