The cost of sending a student to college surged during the latest academic year, adding to concerns about whether expensive degrees are delivering enough value to American families.
Families spent an estimated $34,019 on higher education during the 2025-26 academic year, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, according to a new Sallie Mae and Ipsos report released Wednesday.
Families covered 49 percent of those costs out of pocket, Higher Ed Dive reported.
The total includes more than tuition and fees. A Sallie Mae spokesperson said the figure encompasses books, technology, housing, meals, transportation and other education-related expenses.
Price is also increasingly influencing where students choose to attend. Seventy-nine percent of surveyed families eliminated colleges from consideration at some point because of cost.
“Families reported spending more for higher education and eight in 10 also say they are confident in how they paid for it, even if that meant stretching financially to get there,” Sallie Mae spokesperson Rick Castellano said.
Still, 52 percent of families reported paying less than a school’s advertised price. Castellano said misunderstandings surrounding scholarships and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid could prevent some families from taking advantage of available financial assistance.
The findings come as Americans increasingly question both the affordability and economic value of higher education. Recent polling has found widespread concern that colleges are not adequately preparing students for the workforce.
The rising price of college has been attributed to factors beyond classroom instruction. Administrative expansion, increased staffing, greater noninstructional spending, campus construction and growing demand have contributed to higher costs, according to the American College of Education.
Republicans have increasingly challenged colleges over rising prices and whether students are receiving sufficient returns on increasingly expensive degrees.
“The U.S. higher education system is broken,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., wrote on X in June 2025. “Americans are paying rising costs for college, while the value of their degrees continues to plummet.”
The latest figures suggest families are responding to those pressures by becoming more price-conscious, even as they continue to spend more overall.
Ipsos conducted the online survey from late April through late May. It included 1,000 undergraduate students ages 18 to 24 and 1,000 parents of traditional college-age undergraduate students.
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Written by staff reporters at American Greatness.
Photo “College Campus” by MTSU.
