College Prices Aren’t Skyrocketing-But They’re Still Too High for Some

Discussions about the rising cost of college routinely miss the point. At four-year public and private institutions, the total cost of attendance almost tripled between 1979-80 and 2020-21, accounting for inflation. But only students from higher-income families pay that full cost, or “sticker price,” featured in headlines. Most students pay less because they receive financial aid in the form of grants (sometimes called scholarships). This means they pay a “net price” that is less—often much less—than the sticker price. Determining the net price for individual students is difficult, and tracking changes over time is even harder. But if we want to understand changes in college affordability, we need to track not only the highly visible sticker prices but also financial aid and net prices.