Trends in College Pricing 2012 & Trends in Student Aid 2012

Blog Post
Oct. 29, 2012

The College Board has released its two annual reports on the price of college and student financial assistance  - Trends in College Pricing 2012 and Trends in Student Aid 2012.

Trends in College Pricing 2012 provides data on current and historical published tuition, fees, and other expenses for college undergraduate students, as well as current and trend data on the net price of an undergraduate education. Additionally, the Trends in College Pricing report provides data on institutional revenues and expenditures, endowments, and enrollment patterns.

Trends in Student Aid 2012 provides current and historical data on the various types of financial assistance to both undergraduate and graduate students to finance their educations , including federal, state, institutional, and private grants, loans, work study, and education tax benefits. In addition, the Trends in Student Aid report provides information on cumulative student debt loads, student loan defaults, as well as information on college 529 savings plans. 

Highlights of the two reports include:

  • In the last year, the average published charges for tuition and fees at public 4-year (in-state) increased from $8,256 in 2011-2012 to $8,655 in 2012-2013, an increase of 4.8%. At public 2-year schools, average published charges for tuition and fees rose 5.8%, and at private nonprofit 4-year schools average published charges for tuition and fees rose 4.2%.
  • In inflation-adjusted dollars, between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013, average tuition and fees at 4-year public colleges and universities increased 27%, at 2-year publics they increased 24%, and at 4-year private nonprofits average tuition and fees increased 13%.
  • After a short period of decline in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, the net price for tuition and fees (i.e., the price after taking grant aid and tax benefits into consideration), at 4-year publics rose for the third consecutive year, climbing to $2,910 in 2012-2013. The net price including room and board rose to $12,110. At 4-year private nonprofits, the net price for tuition and fees in 2012-2013was $13,380 and the net price including room and board was $23,840.
  • In 2011-2012, the total funds used to fund student expenses at the undergraduate and graduate level were $244.8 billion. Included in this amount is $173.7 billion in federal aid -- $49.3 billion in grants (Pell, SEOG, Veterans, Military and other grants), $105.3 billion in loans (Stafford, PLUS, Perkins, other), $972 million in work-study, and $18.2 billion in education tax benefits.
  • In inflation-adjusted dollars, total federal aid for postsecondary education has increased 140% between 2001-2002 and 2011-2012. Of this federal aid, Pell grants have increased 172%, federal loans have increased 120%, and education tax benefits have increased 209%. Additionally, the federal share of all funds used to finance postsecondary education has increased from 62% in 2001-2002 to 71% in 2011-2012.
  • At the undergraduate level, in 2011-2012 $185.1 billion was provided in total federal, state, institutional, and private student aid. Of this amount, 38% was in the form of federal student loans, 19% in federal Pell grants, 18% in institutional grants, 9%  in federal education tax credits and deductions, 7%in federal grants other than Pell, 5% in state grants, 4% in private and employer grants, and less than 1% in federal work-study.
  • At the graduate level, federal student loans made up a far greater share of total funds used to finance education. Of the $51.7 billion in student aid for graduate students in 2011-2012, 67% was in the form of federal student loans, 18% in institutional grants, 9% in private and employer grants, 4% in federal education tax credits and deductions, 3% in federal grants other than Pell, less than 1% in state grants,  and less than 1% in federal work-study.