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How Much Does College Cost and How Does It Relate to Student Borrowing? Tuition Growth and Borrowing over the Past 30 Years

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  • Adam Looney

Abstract

The rising cost of college and graduate school is often cited as a cause of rising student loan borrowing. This paper analyzes long-term trends in tuition and student financing using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. While real top-line “sticker prices” have increased 114 percent since 1993, after accounting for increases in financial aid and tax benefits net tuition prices have not changed. Over the same period, student borrowing tripled. While certain groups, like graduate students and affluent undergraduates, have faced higher prices, aggregate increases in borrowing are hard to explain by average changes in net tuition prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam Looney, 2024. "How Much Does College Cost and How Does It Relate to Student Borrowing? Tuition Growth and Borrowing over the Past 30 Years," Working Papers 24-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:98755
    DOI: 10.21799/frbp.wp.2024.16
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    as
    1. Adam Looney & Constantine Yannelis, 2015. "A Crisis in Student Loans? How Changes in the Characteristics of Borrowers and in the Institutions They Attended Contributed to Rising Loan Defaults," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 46(2 (Fall)), pages 1-89.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    student loans; college tuition; financial aid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

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