While tuition prices continue to increase at many schools across the country, there was actually a slowdown in the price increase in 2013 at public universities in the United States, according to a new study.
The average cost of attending a four-year public university increased by 2.9%, according to the annual “Trends in Higher Education” report from the College Board. That’s the lowest increase in 30 years.
The 2.9% increase is for in-state students paying tuition and fees. If room and board is added in, the total price increased 3.2% for those same students.
The findings suggest that the increases over the past decade “did not signal a new era of accelerating prices,” according to the report. The report states that the increase for in-state students at public universities was 4.5% in 2012-2013 and 8.5% in 2011.
In dollar figures, the increase in tuition and fees for in-state students increased from $8,646 to $8,893.
The cost for private schools is far higher. For example, tuition and fees at private, non-profit four-year institutions increased by 3.8% in 2013, from $28,989 to $30,094, according to the College Board report.
The College Board noted that these dollars figures are “sticker prices,” and that many college students pay less through scholarships or financial aid. The report cites a 2012 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study that found two-thirds of all undergraduate students receive some type of grant that lowers the cost of college.
However, the report also notes that the amount of federal aid to students has declined.
“This does not mean that college is suddenly more affordable,” economist Sandy Baum, who worked on the report, told USA Today. “It does seem that the (upward tuition) spiral is moderating. Not turning around, not ending, but moderating.”
The report also breaks down the cost of college by state, collecting data on the in-state tuition and fees at public four-year and two-year institutions. Among its findings:
- New Hampshire is the most expensive state at $14,665 per student at four-year universities, a 34% increase in the past five years.
- Vermont is the second most expensive at $13,968, a 16% increase in the past five years.
- The least expensive tuition and fees at a public four-year university can be found in Wyoming ($4,404) and Alaska ($5,885).
- The states with the biggest increases in tuition and fees over the past five years at public four-year schools are Arizona (up 70% to $10,065) and Georgia (up 65% to $7,823).
Even as prices increase, state and local government funding for education has dropped. According to the College Board report, state and local funding fell from 48% of total revenues at public universities to 29% between 2000 and 2010.
