How Much Will it Cost?

The price of tuition and fees for an online degree will depend in large part upon the university/college and program that you decide to pursue. Unfortunately, education costs have been rising. But so have the amounts of financial aid that are given out each year to millions of students for their postsecondary degrees.

The National Center for Education Statics provides insight into the current average cost of education as well as trending costs over the last thirty years. As you can see from the chart below, costs continue to rise, due in large part to the amount of competition and power of a degree in the marketplace for earnings

The 2007-08 academic year saw average undergraduate annual prices (including tuition, room and board) of $11,578 for public schools and $29,915 for private schools. Although you will be saving on room and board by getting an online degree, you can still see how the cost of postsecondary or higher education studies is increasing: 30% between ’97-’98 and ’07-’08 for public schools and 23% during the same period for private schools.

Average undergraduate tuition and fees and room and board rates charged for full-time students in degree-granting institutions, by type and control of institution: Selected years, 1980-81 to 2007-08
Year and control of institution All institutions 4-year institutions 2-year institutions
All institutions      
1980-81 $3,101 $3,499 $2,230
1990-91 6,562 7,602 3,930
2000-01 10,818 12,922 5,460
2001-02 11,380 13,639 5,718
2002-03 12,014 14,439 6,252
2003-04 12,953 15,505 6,705
2004-05 13,792 16,509 7,086
2005-06 14,629 17,447 7,231
2006-07 15,483 18,471 7,466
2007-08(01) 16,245 19,362 7,645
Public institutions      
1980-81 4,757 $2,550 $2,027
1990-91 7,586 5,243 3,467
2000-01 8,022 8,653 4,839
2001-02 8,502 9,196 5,137
2002-03 9,247 9,787 5,601
2003-04 9,864 10,674 6,012
2004-05 10,454 11,426 6,375
2005-06 11,049 12,108 6,492
2006-07 11,578 12,797 6,815
2007-08(01) 30,000 13,424 6,966
Private institutions (2)      
1980-81 $5,470 $5,594 $4,303
1990-91 12,910 13,237 9,302
2000-01 21,368 21,856 14,788
2001-02 22,413 22,896 15,825
2002-03 23,340 23,787 17,753
2003-04 24,624 25,069 19,558
2004-05 25,810 26,257 20,093
2005-06 26,889 27,317 21,170
2006-07 28,439 28,919 20,284
2007-08(01) 29,915 30,393 21,712
(1) Preliminary data based on fall 2006 enrollment weights.
(2) Because of their low response rate, data for private 2-year colleges must be interpreted with caution.
  • Those with an advanced degree (more than a Bachelor’s degree) earned 102% more money than those with just a high school degree. (ages 21 to 64)
  • Those with a bachelor’s degree earned 57% more than those with a high school degree. (ages 21 to 64)
  • High school only graduates earned less than the overall median income for the entire US of $ 32,717 per annum.
  • Those with an advanced degree earned 29% more than those with a Bachelor’s degree.
  • The older people get, the larger the divide in income levels between those with Bachelor’s and advanced degrees and those with high school only degrees.
 
 
 
 

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