The actual cost of college in America

I’m seeing the usual hyperventilating about college tuition. Look, there’s a lot of competition, particularly among the more competitive universities, to post exorbitant sticker prices for tuition because it makes them look valuable. The reality is that college tuitions are steeply discounted and most domestic students get “scholarships” that reduce the actual cost.

“ . . .the actual cost of college for a family with an income of $100,000 has increased 16% since 1995 and hasn’t increased at all since 2007. This doesn’t change until your income exceeds $150,000. All of this is adjusted for inflation.

“The Brookings data shows a higher increase for public universities, but that’s because they include room and board. If you look at tuition and fees, the net cost has gone down.”


The cost of college has barely changed in 30 years