Mark Kantrowitz, financial aid consultant and author of the book How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid, says that colleges and universities keep tuition hikes fairly low during difficult times, as they did during the Great Recession or during the first two years of the pandemic. But then, historically, they go through a period of large hikes to make up for the drop in state support when there’s less tax revenue to pull from.
“Pricing is cyclical. Tuition inflation moderates during a recession, but towards the end you see above-average tuition inflation, especially at public colleges,” he says. “Like everyone else, the schools have lost ground when they have to adjust for inflation. Costs, energy and equipment prices have all gone up. Some colleges are seeing budgets go up and re-enrollments go down. So there’s a lot of pressure on them to raise tuition.”
Even though Kantrowitz says he expects more schools to bump tuition “significantly” in the 2023-2024 school year, some aren’t waiting. Boston University last month announced it will raise tuition 4.25% to $61,050 in the fall—its largest increase in 14 years.
Other schools that have already announced increases include the University of Virginia, which is raising undergraduate tuition and fees this fall by 4.7% and by another 3.7% for the fall of 2023, while room and board each will jump 4%. Lafayette College and Carnegie Mellon University are enacting 4% increases this fall, while Texas Christian University will bump its tuition 4.5%.
“For the first time in a long time, I’ve had parents and students say college is expensive,” Bogardus says, adding that his client demographic in the Northeast means it’s not atypical for a family to spend $50,000 to $80,000 a year on college.
As Bogardus weighs options with his clients, he often suggests that uncertain students start college now if they can, but consider attending a good, less-expensive school where there might be under less pressure so they can excel. “They can go for two years, do well, and then transfer.”
SIDEBAR: A Lighter, Leaner FAFSA
It’s been 12 years since the last overhaul of higher education rules, but Congress used the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 to make applying for college easier through the simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
Most noticeably, the number of questions will drop from a dreaded 108 to a more manageable 36. Some of the provisions will take place in academic year 2023-2024 (with the FAFSA form coming available October 1, 2022), and some will take place the following year.
• The current expected family contribution (EFC) will be replaced by a student aid index (SAI).
• Untaxed income lines are streamlined to only those items broken out on the federal tax return.
• Divorced and separated parents will continue to have only one parent’s information on the FAFSA, but now it will be the parent who provided the greater portion of the child’s financial support who counts.
• The new SAI formula removes the question about cash support, so funds coming from a 529 college savings account owned by anyone other than the student or parent (a grandparent, for example) will not be part of the income equation.
• Students who require more than four years to complete a B.A. program will no longer be cut off from receiving subsidized student loans after year six.
• The biggest change is that the EFC/SAI will no longer be divided by the number of household members enrolled in college at the same time, a calculation that gave these families a discount. However, the income protection allowance has been increased significantly to buffer the impact for the average family.
• Additional changes include counting foreign income as income, expanding aid eligibility to applicants with drug convictions, no longer requiring males to register with the Selective Service System, increasing the amounts of Pell Grants and expanding their eligibility to incarcerated students, and expanding the authority of financial aid administrators to make local decisions about aid under certain circumstances.