About U.S. Higher Education

By the numbers
Costs: Up, Up & Away
Finances: the rich get richer
Success: getting our money's worth
Management & Governance

Costs: Up, Up & Away

  • Total expenditures on U.S. higher education in 2006 were an estimated $364 billion.

Source:  Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education

  • Average total charges for tuition, fees, room and board for in-state students at public institutions during 2006-2007 school year were $12,796. Average total tuition, fee, room and board charges at private four-year colleges and universities during 2006-2007 school year were $30,367.

Source:  The College Board

  • Between 1980 and 2000, spending on student instruction, as a percentage of total spending, decreased from 35.1 percent to 30.4 percent.

Source: Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education

  • Only 21 cents of every higher education dollar over the past generation has actually gone toward student instruction.  

Source:  Going Broke By Degree, Richard Vedder, AEI Press, June 2004

  • A review of the 2003-2004 academic year showed that 63.2 percent of college students had borrowed money to pay for their education.  The average cumulative amount borrowed by full-time students was $12,750.                                            
    Source:  National Center for Education Statistics