College Costs Continue to Rise Faster than Inflation

Sewanee surprised the college world by announcing a 10% reduction in its costs for undergraduate education next year. For those who thought this might reverse or even slow the recent trend toward higher costs for higher education, a spate of other colleges announcing tuition and fee increases quickly dashed those hopes. Major universities continued to announce greater than average inflation increases with the the Ivy League leading this race.

On the financial aid side, the news is not any brighter. While most colleges increased their budget for financial aid, many did not keep pace with the tuition increases. Moreover, many colleges who switched to need-blind, full-need admissions have now backtracked. So it is more important than ever for parents to track which schools still provide generous financial aid packages for their kids that could bring the net cost of education down to a reasonable level.

Colleges	Cost	increase
U Penn	$53,976	3.9%
Cornell	$54,645	4.5%
Yale	$52,700	5.8%
Princeton	$52,669	0.9%
Stanford	$52,341	3.5%
Harvard	$52,650	3.8%