In most cases, the cost of college continues to rise, and so does the amount students borrow to cover it. However, there are exceptions.
Overall, college tuition costs have risen an average of 5.6% annually since 1983, far outpacing other household expenses, according to research from JPMorgan Asset Management.
However, when broken down by type of educational institution, the differences are striking. Tuition and fees at four-year private colleges averaged $45,000 in the 2025-26 school year, according to new data released by the College Board. At a four-year public university in the state, it was $11,950.
Over the 10-year period from 2015-2016 to 2025-26, average inflation-adjusted tuition and fees rose 2% for private nonprofit four-year students but fell 7% for in-state public four-year students.
More than half of students who earn a bachelor’s degree from a public university graduate without taking on student loans. The average amount owed by those who borrow is $27,420, a decrease of nearly 20% over the past 10 years.
By comparison, bachelor’s degree recipients from private universities graduate with an average of about $34,420 in debt per borrower, the College Board found.
“Public universities offer the most affordable path to a quality college education,” said Waded Cruzado, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. “More progress has been made on the net tuition and fees that students actually pay,” he said.
In fact, very few families pay for school stickers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 75% of all undergraduate students receive some type of financial aid.
“The cost of college is a big concern.”
Still, cost can be a big deterrent, with tuition at some schools reaching nearly six figures a year. “The cost of college is a huge concern,” said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review.
For the majority of students and their families, financial aid is the most important factor in choosing where to attend school and how to pay for it. The amount of aid offered is important, as is the breakdown of grants, scholarships, work-study opportunities, and student loans.
“For parents and students shopping for colleges, what matters is the list price of the school they’re considering, not how that price compares to prices from previous years, or even decades ago,” Franek said.
To that end, Franek says it may be a mistake to rule out private universities based solely on cost.
When it comes to providing aid, private schools typically have more resources to spend, he said, and many schools offer large aid packages, often in the form of merit aid, or “grant aid.”
At the end of the day, “what matters most is not the list price, but the amount the student, preferably the family, will have to pay based on the financial aid available.”
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