Although some colleges are expensive, costs vary from institution to institution. In addition, the availability of financial aid -- money available from various sources to help students pay for college -- can make even an expensive college affordable for a qualified student.

College Costs

The basic costs of college are tuition, fees, and other expenses:

• Tuition
  Tuition is the amount of money that colleges charge for instruction and for the use of some facilities, such as libraries. Tuition can range from a few hundred dollars per year to more than $30,000. The least costly option for postsecondary education is typically a local community college where the average tuition and fees are under $1,700 per year. There are also many four-year colleges and universities that are relatively inexpensive. For example, Chart 4 shows that a little more than half of the students who attend four-year colleges go to institutions that charge less than $4,000 in tuition and fees. This occurs because about 66 percent of the students who attend four-year colleges attend public institutions which have lower tuition rates than those of private institutions.

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