COLLEGE TUITION
911
2026 (thru Jul) (latest)
All years
245 489 734 979 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Oil shock & inflation peak (1979) ’79 Black Monday crash (1987) ’87 Gulf War recession (1991) ’91 Dot-com bust & 9/11 (2001) ’01 Global financial crisis (2008) ’08 COVID-19 pandemic (2020) ’20
245 489 734 979 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Oil shock & inflation peak (1979) ’79 Black Monday crash (1987) ’87 Gulf War recession (1991) ’91 Dot-com bust & 9/11 (2001) ’01 Global financial crisis (2008) ’08 COVID-19 pandemic (2020) ’20
239 479 718 958 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Dot-com bust & 9/11 (2001) ’01 Global financial crisis (2008) ’08 COVID-19 pandemic (2020) ’20
232 464 695 927 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026
COVID-19 pandemic (2020) ’20
230 460 690 921 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
228 456 684 912 Jan 2025 Apr 2025 Jul 2025 Oct 2025 Jan 2026
┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. BLS CPI-U tuition, other school fees and childcare. Shown as the published index; the row's change is the cumulative rise over the window.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
Data
Year College Tuition Change
2026 911 +2%
2025 891 +3%
2024 863 +3%
2023 837 +3%
2022 810 +3%
2021 789 +1%
2020 778 +2%
2019 763 +3%
2018 741 +2%
2017 725 +2%
2016 708 +3%
2015 689 +4%
2014 665 +3%
2013 644 +4%
2012 621 +4%
2011 597 +4%
2010 573 +4%
2009 549 +5%
2008 522 +6%
2007 494 +6%
2006 468 +6%
2005 441 +6%
2004 414 +7%
2003 387 +7%
2002 362 +6%
2001 341 +5%
2000 324 +5%
1999 308 +5%
1998 294 +5%
1997 280 +5%
1996 267 +5%
1995 254 +6%
1994 240 +6%
1993 225 +8%
1992 209 +9%
1991 191 +9%
1990 176 +8%
1989 163 +8%
1988 151 +8%
1987 140 +8%
1986 130 +8%
1985 120 +9%
1984 110 +10%
1983 100 +10%
1982 91 +13%
1981 80 +12%
1980 71 +10%
1979 65 +8%
1978 60 —