National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

New estimates on the price and net price of attending postsecondary institutions are now available from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. The average net price (price of attendance minus all grant aid) for undergraduates during the 2011–12 academic year to attend a 4-year institution was $14,300 for a public institution and $23,000 for a private nonprofit institution. At private for-profit 4-year institutions, the average net price was $16,600.

This First Look report presents findings from the 2011–12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), a nationally representative study of undergraduate and graduate students attending postsecondary institutions in the United States. NPSAS provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive look at postsecondary student characteristics and student financial aid for the 2011–12 academic year.

The survey includes about 95,000 undergraduate and 16,000 graduate students attending 1,500 postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia (prior cycles of NPSAS also included institutions from Puerto Rico). The report describes the overall price of attendance (including tuition and fees, books and materials, housing, food, transportation, and personal expenses) associated with attending 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities. The report also examines net price (the price of attendance minus financial aid).

Other findings include:

• The average net price for undergraduate students in 2011-12 was $7,100 for public 2-year institutions and $18,600 for for-profit 2-year institutions.

• The average "sticker” price, or the price of attendance without accounting for student financial aid, among all undergraduates in the 2011–12 academic year was $17,900 for public 4-year institutions and $34,400 for private nonprofit 4-year institutions. At private for-profit 4-year institutions, the average price of attendance was $19,400.

• The average “sticker” price of attendance for undergraduate students in 2011–12 was $8,700 for public 2-year institutions and $21,100 for private for-profit 2-year institutions.
The First Look report and data files are products of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Institute of Education Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education.