TABLE OF CONTENTS

Question 1 of 1

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College tuition has risen significantly in the last few decades. From the 1979–1980 academic year to the 2012–2013 academic year, total tuition, room, and board paid by full-time undergraduate students went from $2,327 to $17,988 at public institutions and from $5,013 to $39,296 at private institutions. This is an average annual tuition increase of 6.4% at public institutions and 6.5% at private institutions. Over the same time, average personal income after taxes rose from $8,037 to $39,514 per year, which is an average annual rate of growth of personal income of 4.9%.

Have these tuition increases made it more difficult for the average student to afford college tuition?
To determine it is more or less difficult for a typical person to afford college, we would need to know how much tuition had increased relative to average income in the United States. Average personal income after taxes rose from $8,037 to $39,514 per year from 1979 to 2013, or an average annual increase of 4.9%. So it was more difficult for the average person to afford to attend either a public institution, where tuition increased 6.4% annually, or a private institution, where tuition increased 6.5% annually. For further review see the section, “Inflation and Deflation.”
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