April 8, 2016

Updated OPB Brief on Published Price vs. Net Price

The rising costs of college are a popular subject for everyone from presidential candidates to media outlets. Parents and students blanche as published tuition prices climb ever higher. But the published price – often referred to as the “sticker price” for colleges – offers a misleading picture of the cost of higher education. OPB has updated our brief to reflect the newest available data on published price vs. net price. Highlights include:

• Sector-wide data on increases in published price and net price for public and private four-year colleges
• A description of how declining state investment in higher education has spurred tuition increases
• A table of the top 25 research universities’ net price for resident undergraduates receiving grant or scholarship aid

Our updated brief is accessible here.