Go to this website to wake up from the USD trance. I’ve been there. Gold tells the truth. Government is out of control at the behest of the asset owning class.
turb0_encapsulator on
what caused the steep rise right around the turn of the century? I know the original rise had a bit to do with a law that made the debt impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.
hotbiscut2 on
I hate how college has turned into a for profit business instead of a noble cause for education.
Farzy78 on
Right around the time the federal government got into the loan business cost started to rise a lot more
Roquet_ on
If I understand correctly it’s college tuition without accounting for inflation vs accounting for it?
bisnark on
The average cost of college tuition now is under $12K? Just wondering. Can you do this with the cost of room and board, also?
41rp0r7m4n493r on
Another What Happened in 1978 stealth post
FandomMenace on
Has the quality improved? Surely there is more to this story that a few numbers.
mvw2 on
I haven’t been in college for 15 years. I WISH it cost me $1k/mo. back then. The only college I’ve ever been to that is as cheap as that graph is a small community college and one that specifically operated and prided itself as being very cost efficient.
thatguy425 on
Great reason to go into a trade.
CalgaryChris77 on
Is this per month per full load? It’s such a weird way to measure but it seems a lot cheaper than I thought it would be.
DustScoundrel on
I did my master’s thesis on this subject and the issue can be squarely laid on the deregulation and neoliberalization of higher education that happened in the 70s. Instead of direct federal funding for universities, states were left to fend for themselves, though at the time the Pell Grant was established to help low-income students. At that time, the Pell Grant would cover the entirety of a student’s ttuition, so the problem was minimized.
However, Congress predictably failed to link the Pell Grant to inflation or COL increases, leading to the relative pittance it provides today. Simultaneously, state spending per student plummeted across almost every state, partially due to political reasons but also because higher education is only of the only “flexible” budget items in most states (It is not really viable, practically or politically, to reduce K-12 education, state-based healthcare, infrastructure, or emergency services). Additionally, professional staff within universities increased – something both good and bad, as it includes critical support services such as learning, counseling, Title IX offices, and the like, as well as unnecessary elements like increased branding and marketing. Finally, because neoliberal policies and principles began to corporatize universities, this led to inflated compensation for c-suite level leadership in many universities.
Taken together, these elements created a massive budget shortfall that can only be made up through tuition, lacking funding from other sources. Private universities are sometimes able to avoid this through financialization of their endowments and research, but overall, this is how we get to the modern university and its costs.
repeatoffender123456 on
What is the cost for two years at community college and then two years at an in state school?
isweartogodchris on
this could just be a real tuition cost in 1978 dollars graph
Eastern-Job3263 on
It coincides with the reduction of state aid for higher education.
GreatnessToTheMoon on
That’s what happens when schools become 4 star resorts instead of schools
Joseph20102011 on
A chunk of the US college tuition cost went to administrative overhead expenses.
FoolishChemist on
As someone who teaches in college, your professors’ salaries are not increasing at this rate. We would be ecstatic if it even matched the inflation rate.
Many_Birthday_0418 on
Just study at home bro. Today we have tons of cheap or free online course, free textbooks on Z lib and free AI which can explain anything to you. I don’t even think university have any value today.
HitchScorTar on
The only thing that outpaces college tuition is US healthcare costs
MasterOnion47 on
Over-simplified answer as to what is going on here per ChatGPT:
“In short: the 1990s were when state disinvestment, rising demand, expanded federal loans, and growing administrative/amenity spending converged, creating the steep tuition inflation curve we still see today.”
I personally think we need to completely rethink sending so many kids to 4 year colleges as the default. The de facto result is credential bloat where jobs that did not formerly require a college degree (and have no rational need for one) now require a college degree, forcing kids to spend years in college and rack up massive debts for no societal benefit.
Junior colleges, trade schools, and public or military service would be much more logical post high school tracks for so many kids who are not gonna be doctors or lawyers or engineers.
![[OC] Average Cost of US College Tuition vs Annual Inflation](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/kdlqn8f0q1nf1-1536x946.png "[OC] Average Cost of US College Tuition vs Annual Inflation")
23 Comments
I’m confused by the average cost being $1,000. Is that per credit or something obscure?
https://pricedingold.com/college-tuition/
Go to this website to wake up from the USD trance. I’ve been there. Gold tells the truth. Government is out of control at the behest of the asset owning class.
what caused the steep rise right around the turn of the century? I know the original rise had a bit to do with a law that made the debt impossible to discharge in bankruptcy.
I hate how college has turned into a for profit business instead of a noble cause for education.
Right around the time the federal government got into the loan business cost started to rise a lot more
If I understand correctly it’s college tuition without accounting for inflation vs accounting for it?
The average cost of college tuition now is under $12K? Just wondering. Can you do this with the cost of room and board, also?
Another What Happened in 1978 stealth post
Has the quality improved? Surely there is more to this story that a few numbers.
I haven’t been in college for 15 years. I WISH it cost me $1k/mo. back then. The only college I’ve ever been to that is as cheap as that graph is a small community college and one that specifically operated and prided itself as being very cost efficient.
Great reason to go into a trade.
Is this per month per full load? It’s such a weird way to measure but it seems a lot cheaper than I thought it would be.
I did my master’s thesis on this subject and the issue can be squarely laid on the deregulation and neoliberalization of higher education that happened in the 70s. Instead of direct federal funding for universities, states were left to fend for themselves, though at the time the Pell Grant was established to help low-income students. At that time, the Pell Grant would cover the entirety of a student’s ttuition, so the problem was minimized.
However, Congress predictably failed to link the Pell Grant to inflation or COL increases, leading to the relative pittance it provides today. Simultaneously, state spending per student plummeted across almost every state, partially due to political reasons but also because higher education is only of the only “flexible” budget items in most states (It is not really viable, practically or politically, to reduce K-12 education, state-based healthcare, infrastructure, or emergency services). Additionally, professional staff within universities increased – something both good and bad, as it includes critical support services such as learning, counseling, Title IX offices, and the like, as well as unnecessary elements like increased branding and marketing. Finally, because neoliberal policies and principles began to corporatize universities, this led to inflated compensation for c-suite level leadership in many universities.
Taken together, these elements created a massive budget shortfall that can only be made up through tuition, lacking funding from other sources. Private universities are sometimes able to avoid this through financialization of their endowments and research, but overall, this is how we get to the modern university and its costs.
What is the cost for two years at community college and then two years at an in state school?
this could just be a real tuition cost in 1978 dollars graph
It coincides with the reduction of state aid for higher education.
That’s what happens when schools become 4 star resorts instead of schools
A chunk of the US college tuition cost went to administrative overhead expenses.
As someone who teaches in college, your professors’ salaries are not increasing at this rate. We would be ecstatic if it even matched the inflation rate.
Just study at home bro. Today we have tons of cheap or free online course, free textbooks on Z lib and free AI which can explain anything to you. I don’t even think university have any value today.
The only thing that outpaces college tuition is US healthcare costs
Over-simplified answer as to what is going on here per ChatGPT:
“In short: the 1990s were when state disinvestment, rising demand, expanded federal loans, and growing administrative/amenity spending converged, creating the steep tuition inflation curve we still see today.”
I personally think we need to completely rethink sending so many kids to 4 year colleges as the default. The de facto result is credential bloat where jobs that did not formerly require a college degree (and have no rational need for one) now require a college degree, forcing kids to spend years in college and rack up massive debts for no societal benefit.
Junior colleges, trade schools, and public or military service would be much more logical post high school tracks for so many kids who are not gonna be doctors or lawyers or engineers.
With AI a lot of colleges are going to shut down.