College Cost of Attendance: Tuition, Fees & Net Price

College cost depends on which number you mean. A school's published tuition is the lowest figure. The full student budget adds housing, food, books, transportation, and personal expenses. The net price is lower again once grants and scholarships come off.

This page lays out each layer using the College Board's Trends in College Pricing 2025 report for the 2025-26 academic year, along with Education Data Initiative figures based on 2023-24 data.

Published tuition and fees are the starting point. The College Board reports averages for full-time undergraduates at three kinds of four-year schools.

Public four-year colleges charge in-state students $11,950/yr on average and out-of-state students $31,880/yr. Private nonprofit four-year colleges average $45,000/yr, according to College Board.

These are averages across many schools. Individual colleges can sit well above or below them, and prices can differ sharply from one state to the next.

Tuition leaves out much of what a year of college costs. The College Board's student budgets include housing and food, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.

For 2025-26, the average budget is $30,990/yr at public four-year colleges for in-state students and $50,920/yr for out-of-state students. At private nonprofit four-year colleges it is $65,470/yr. These figures are reported by Scholarships and Grants, which cites the College Board.

The Education Data Initiative reports cost of attendance for students living on campus, based on federal data for the 2023-24 academic year. Because the year differs, the numbers do not match the College Board's budgets exactly.

The reported figures are $28,349/yr for public in-state students, $47,724/yr for public out-of-state students, and $60,924/yr for private nonprofit students, according to Education Data Initiative.

Most of the figures above are what the college charges, not what every student pays. Grants and scholarships reduce the bill, and the net price can be much lower than the sticker price.

The College Board estimates that first-time, full-time in-state students at public four-year colleges pay about $2,300/yr in net tuition and fees for 2025-26. At private nonprofit four-year colleges the estimate is $16,910/yr. These are averages across first-time students. Your own result depends on your finances and the school's aid policies.

The school's financial aid office can tell you what you would owe, and studentaid.gov explains federal aid. Many colleges also post a net price calculator on their websites.

The Education Data Initiative multiplies its annual cost of attendance to estimate a bachelor's degree.

The estimate comes to $113,396 for in-state public students, $190,896 for out-of-state public students, and $243,696 for private nonprofit students. They multiply one year's cost by the length of a standard degree, so actual totals can differ.

• Public or private. The tables show the gap between the two sectors.
• Residency. Public colleges generally charge out-of-state students more.
• Housing choice. Living on campus, with family, or in an apartment changes the budget.
• Financial aid. Grants, scholarships, and work-study can lower the net price.
• Time to finish. Extra semesters add tuition and living costs.

Sources disagree because they measure different things. Education Data Initiative reports an average of $39,406/yr across four-year colleges. Yahoo Finance reports a range of $30,990 – $65,470/yr from the College Board's 2025-26 budgets. One covers a blend of institutions, and the other splits public in-state from private nonprofit. The academic year, and whether a figure assumes living on campus, also move the totals.