College Costs Creep Up in 2025

College expenses went up by 3. 6% in the 2025 fiscal year. This is a small increase from the 3. 4% rise in 2024, but less than the 4. 0% jump in 2023, when schools were dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) tracks these costs. It looks at the average price changes for goods and services that colleges and universities buy each year. HEPI is often more accurate for schools than the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks everyday consumer goods. HEPI considers eight main cost areas: faculty pay (35%), clerical costs (18%), benefits (13%), admin salaries (11%), service worker pay (8%), utilities (7%), supplies (6%), and other services (2%). Most of these costs are tied to people, not things like food or clothes, which the CPI tracks. In 2025, HEPI was higher than CPI again. HEPI rose by 3. 6%, while CPI only went up by 2. 6%. This has happened in nine of the last 11 years. The 2025 fiscal year was the fifth year in a row where HEPI was higher than the average from the previous decade. From 2010 to 2019, the average annual HEPI was 2. 2%. But from 2020 to 2024, it was 3. 4%, peaking at 5. 2% in 2022.Most of the cost categories in HEPI went up in 2025. Admin salaries rose by 4. 8%, the highest increase. Faculty pay went up by 4. 3%, the biggest jump since 1998. Utilities and service employee costs also saw big increases. Only supplies and materials got cheaper, dropping by 0. 2%. Public four-year schools saw a 3. 9% increase in costs, while private nonprofit schools saw 3. 3%. Two-year public colleges had the biggest jump at 4. 6%, mostly due to faculty salary increases. Faculty salaries at public schools went up by 4. 7%, compared to 3. 6% at private schools. This is a change from the usual trend, where private schools often see bigger salary increases. Among public schools, two-year colleges had the highest faculty salary increase at 8. 7%, followed by master’s institutions at 5. 4%, and doctoral universities at 3. 1%. Among private schools, doctoral institutions saw the biggest increase at 4. 9%, followed by baccalaureate schools at 2. 5%, and master’s institutions at 1. 4%.