Inflation causing college tuition to go up!
After 2 challenging years with off campus (online) classes due to COVID, and now inflation (and fear of rising inflation), colleges are ramping up tuition to help offset their costs. Our current inflation rate is 8.3% over last year. Colleges are now paying more for faculty, administrative costs, fuel, utilities, food, health care, and more.
Boston University just raised its tuition 4.25% for 2022-23 after increasing it 3% last year. University of Virginia will increase tuition 8.4% over the next 2 years.
Public colleges may be limited by law to incremental tuition increases. Washington State University is allowed to increase tuition by only 2.4% per year for in-state undergraduates. There are no laws to protect graduate, out-of-state, or international students, but Washington has kept tuition increases to just 5% for these students.
With the wildly unpredictable world that we live in today, students should look at projected tuition increases to determine if they can afford to attend for all 4 years. Don’t rely on student loan debt forgiveness promises or tuition bailouts when making these important decisions.