Yahoo Finance Soaring Costs: Here’s How Much College Tuition Has Increased in 8 Notable States
The sticker price of college tuition only continues to increase. In March 2024, NBC 10 Boston reported that two Massachusetts colleges, Wellesley and Boston University, now have annual student costs exceeding the $90,000 barrier.
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While both of these institutions may be private, the cost of college tuition is noticeably increasing across the U.S. for both public and private universities alike. To determine how much more the cost of college tuition has risen, GOBankingRates found each state’s average college tuition costs for each school year starting with 2013-2014 through 2021-2022.
We then used the National Center for Education Statistics’ Digest of Education Statistics to source school costs for the previous eight years starting in 2022 and calculated the changes in dollars and percentages.
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Key Findings
Private college tuition costs in Iowa increased more than $22,000 — the largest eight-year dollar increase of any state in the country.
Oregon ($17k+), Rhode Island ($17k+), Massachusetts ($16k+) and Vermont ($16k+) also ranked among the top five states with the largest private college tuition increases.
Five states including Connecticut ($7k+), Vermont ($6k+), Massachusetts ($6k+), Virginia ($6k+) and Alaska ($6k+) had the largest eight-year dollar change for public universities.
Of these states mentioned, Massachusetts and Vermont are distinctive in that these eight-year dollar changes impacted costs at both state’s public and private colleges (rather than one or the other).
Let’s take a closer look at how the eight-year dollar change has impacted costs at private and public colleges in each of these states.
States With the Largest 8-Year Dollar Change for Private Colleges
Iowa
The average total cost for a private four-year college in Iowa was $24,517 in 2013. Expenses included in annual costs included tuition, fees and room and board. By 2022, the average total cost had jumped to $47,150.
The dollar change, over a period of eight years, was $22,633 with a 48% change. Within eight years, the average total cost for a private Iowa college has experienced a near 50% increase.
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Massachusetts
In 2013, the average total cost was $51,481 for a private four-year Massachusetts college. By 2022, tuition had shot up to $67,953.
While the eight-year dollar change is $16,472 — much less than the price of a private Iowa college — the percentage change is 24.2% and nearly reaching 25%. Looking at the example of how Wellesley and BU broke the $90k barrier this year, it will be interesting to see how long it may take other Massachusetts private colleges to follow in their soaring tuition costs footsteps.
Oregon
Oregon’s average private college costs were $42,383 in 2013 and reached $60,038 by the 2022 school year. Within eight years, the dollar change had increased by $17,655 with a percentage change of 29.4%.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island average private college costs in 2013 were $46,704, vaulting to $64,025 in 2022.
However, Rhode Island is slightly less expensive for obtaining a private college education than Oregon. Private college costs experienced a $17,321 dollar change for annual student costs and a 27.1% percentage change over eight years.
Vermont
If you wanted to attend a private college in Vermont in 2013, the average cost was $47,908. Over the next eight years, the cost climbed steadily to reach $64,274 in 2022.
With an eight-year dollar change of $16,366, the percentage change comes out to just a little shy of 25% at 25.5% for Vermont private colleges.
States With the Largest 8-Year Dollar Change for Public Colleges
Alaska
In 2013, it cost an average of $15,693 to attend a public college in Alaska. The cost included tuition, fees and room and board. By 2022, the price tag was $22,063 annually.
While this may sound like a modest amount of growth, it’s more expensive when considering the changes in dollars and percentages. Over eight years, public college tuition increased by $6,370 which accounted for a 28.9% increase.
Connecticut
College students attending a Connecticut public college in 2013 would pay about $21,638 annually. Those attending in 2022 paid $28,816 as their average tuition cost. At 24.9%, the percentage increase was just shy of 25% within eight years. The eight-year dollar change was $7,178.
Massachusetts
While a public college education in Massachusetts is significantly less expensive than its private counterpart, it is not exempt from experiencing tuition increases over the years.
In 2013, it cost about $21,814 to attend a Massachusetts public college and would later cost $28,572 in 2022. This amounts to a dollar change of $6,758, with a percentage change of 23.7%, within the eight-year timeframe.
Vermont
Students attending a Vermont public college would have paid $24,071 annually in 2013 while those attending in 2022 paid $30,921. This leap in costs rising by $6,850 over eight years comes with a 22.2% percentage change.
Virginia
The average price of a public college in Virginia circa 2013 was $19,845 annually. This amount jumped to $26,507 for tuition in 2022.
Over the course of eight years, the dollar change increase was $6,662 more expensive than it had been in 2013 with 25.1% as its percentage change.
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed each state to find how much the cost of college tuition has increased in every state. GOBankingRates started by finding the average college tuition costs for each school year from school year 2013-2014 until school year 2021-2022. GOBankingRates used the National Center for Education Statistics’ Digest of Education Statistics for the previous 8 years starting in 2022 as the most recent report with full data. Once the school costs have been sourced the changes in dollar and percentages were calculated. All data was collected on and is up to date as of April 15th, 2024. Washington DC did not have all the data available and was marked appropriately.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Soaring Costs: Here’s How Much College Tuition Has Increased in 8 Notable States
