Key Takeaways
- Public four-year in-state tuition averages $11,950 for 2025-26; private nonprofit tuition averages $45,000.
- Most families pay far less than sticker price: about $2,300 net at public schools after aid.
- A new OBBBA endowment tax (1.4%-8%) hits roughly 15 of the wealthiest universities starting in 2026.
- The 2027-28 FAFSA opens October 1 — filing early matters for first-come, first-served aid.
Published tuition at public four-year, in-state schools hit $11,950 for the 2025-26 school year, up 2.9% from the year before. Private nonprofit four-year tuition climbed to $45,000, up 4.0% before adjusting for inflation.
The 2027-28 FAFSA opens October 1, which is the real reason to pay attention to these numbers now rather than in the spring. Filing early matters because a lot of state and school aid is first-come, first-served — and the aid you get is what actually determines what you’ll pay, not the sticker price below.
What Tuition Actually Costs Right Now
For the 2025-26 academic year, average published tuition and fees break down like this:
| School Type | 2025-26 Tuition | YoY Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year, in-state | $11,950 | +2.9% |
| Public 4-year, out-of-state | $31,880 | — |
| Public 2-year (community college) | $4,150 | +2.7% |
| Private nonprofit 4-year | $45,000 | +4.0% |
These are sticker prices — what a school publishes as its official cost of attendance before any grants or aid. They’re the number that shows up in headlines, and the number that scares a lot of families away from schools they could actually afford.
For 2026-27, College Board projections put the next increase at around 2.3% for public four-year schools — a smaller jump than in past years, but still outpacing general inflation. College Board typically publishes its updated Trends in College Pricing report in October or November; I’ll update this table with confirmed 2026-27 numbers once it’s out.
Sticker Price vs. What Families Actually Pay
This is the part that gets lost every year: the average student doesn’t pay the sticker price.
After grants and aid, the average net tuition for first-time, full-time students at public four-year in-state schools runs around $2,300. At private nonprofit four-year schools, the average net price is about $16,910 — down from $19,810 (in today’s dollars) back in 2006-07.
In other words, adjusted for inflation and aid, net tuition has actually fallen over the past two decades at both public and private nonprofit schools, even as the published price has kept climbing. Sticker price and what you’ll actually be billed can be two very different numbers. The gap tends to be widest at the private schools with the biggest headline price tags.
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Why Tuition Keeps Rising (Even as the Pace Slows)
The old rule of thumb — tuition rises at roughly twice the general inflation rate — still holds up over the long run, but the last couple of years have been milder than that. Public tuition rose 2.9% against roughly 2.6% inflation, which is close to even, not double.
Part of that is state and institutional aid absorbing more of the increase before it reaches a student’s bill. Part of it is schools being more cautious about sticker-price increases after years of enrollment pressure and public scrutiny over college costs.
The New Wrinkle: OBBBA’s Endowment Tax
Starting in 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) created a new tiered tax on the investment income of the wealthiest college endowments — schools with more than 3,000 tuition-paying students and high endowment-per-student ratios. Rates run from 1.4% up to 8%, depending on the tier, and roughly 15 universities are expected to land in the higher brackets.
This mostly hits elite private research universities, not your average public or regional private school. But it’s worth watching: schools facing the higher tax tiers have flagged that financial aid, research funding, and campus maintenance are the most likely places to absorb the hit if a school offsets the tax rather than raising tuition further.
What This Means If You’re Planning for These Costs
If you’re saving ahead of time, the tools haven’t changed even if the numbers have. I’ve written before about how to choose a 529 plan, how to pay for college using savings, aid, and alternatives, and the tradeoff between funding a 529 versus your own retirement.
All three are worth a look before you assume the sticker price is what you’ll actually owe — and worth reading before you sit down to file the FAFSA, since the aid estimate that comes back from it is what turns the sticker price into a real number. If aid and savings still leave a gap, know the recent changes to Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS loans before you borrow to cover it.
Common Mistakes Families Make When Budgeting for Tuition
Ruling out a school based on sticker price alone. The net price calculator every school is required to post (search “[school name] net price calculator”) gives a much more realistic estimate than the published cost of attendance.
Not comparing net price across schools. A $45,000 private school with generous aid can end up cheaper than a $12,000 public school with none. Compare net price, not published price.
Waiting too long to start saving — or to file the FAFSA. Even modest 529 contributions made early compound over more years than large contributions made late. The same logic applies to financial aid: filing October 1 instead of January doesn’t change your aid formula, but it can be the difference between getting first-come, first-served state grants and missing them.
Assuming a public school is automatically the “safe” choice. It usually is cheaper, but out-of-state public tuition ($31,880 on average) can rival or exceed a private school’s net price after aid.
Where Tuition and Aid Go From Here for 2027-28
I’ll be watching whether the 2026-27 increase actually lands near the projected 2.3%, or whether inflation and state budget pressure push it higher once real numbers come in this fall. I’ll also be watching how many schools end up in the higher endowment tax tiers once 2026 enrollment and endowment figures are finalized, and whether any of them respond by trimming financial aid rather than absorbing the cost elsewhere.
I’ll update this page once College Board’s next Trends in College Pricing report comes out, typically in October or November.
