How Much Cheaper College Used to Be

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, college wasn’t so expensive.

While student loan debt and the consequences of it are ubiquitous in public discourse, and have been for some time, college didn’t used to have a sad, morbid undertone to it. Colleges used to be places where people had fun and enriched themselves because they could afford it. According to Forbes, there were 1.2 million borrowers who had 6-figure loan balances in 2018. This begs the question: how much did college cost just a few years ago?

During 2018 to 2019, a private 4-year institution would cost you $36386 per year, while a public one would cost you $10339 per year. Let’s compare this to the school year of 2005-2006, when private institutions would have cost you $27962 per year, and their public counterparts would have cost you $7246. But wait, there’s more!

Back in 1990 to 1991, a private 4-year institution would have cost you $18454 per year while a public one would have cost you $3774.

Lastly, from 1970-1971, a private institution of 4 years would have cost you $11933 per year, while a public one would have cost $2697.

These figures were provided by go-banking rates, which came up with the costs based on data from the National Center For Education Statistics & College Board. Some of these figures have been adjusted to factor in inflation.

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5 years ago