What does a year at a public university cost after grants?

At the typical public four-year university in 2023–24, the full cost of a year (tuition, housing, food, books and other costs) was $25,115. After grants and scholarships, students whose families earned up to $30,000 paid a median of $10,204, and those from families earning over $110,000 paid $20,778. Net prices count first-time, full-time undergraduates who received federal aid and paid in-state tuition; each bar is the median of colleges' averages. Loans are not subtracted, because they have to be repaid.

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Key facts

Measure: Dollars a year. Written from the data below.

  • Full cost, before grants has the highest figure, $25,632, followed by Over $110,000 ($21,688) and $75,001–110,000 ($16,349).
  • Family income $0–30,000 has the lowest figure, $10,538, followed by $30,001–48,000 ($10,633) and $48,001–75,000 ($12,049).
  • The highest is 2.4 times the lowest.

Source and date

Source
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “What does a year at a public university cost after grants?” Chart. Data: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/ (data as of June 30, 2025). https://chart.ly/charts/college-net-price-public (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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Full cost, then net price by family income Dollars a year
Full cost, before grants 25,632
Family income $0–30,000 10,538
$30,001–48,000 10,633
$48,001–75,000 12,049
$75,001–110,000 16,349
Over $110,000 21,688

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