The Cost of College Enrollment

Current annual costs of college enrollment

According to the College Board's Independent College 500 index, the cost of enrollment for the 2005-2006 academic year is $31,465, up 5.62% over 2004-2005. This figure includes tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.

Our survey of selected and top-ranked regional and national colleges

Bewildered about how much you might need to save to meet such costs? Try our college savings calculator to estimate future enrollment costs and to see what you might need to set aside annually.

Weston Wealth Strategies conducted a survey of selected four-year colleges and included a table of its findings below. The mean of our sample, albeit a fairly select group of schools, is $44,528. This includes tuition and fees (such as student health insurance), room and board, and books, supplies and personal expenses. It does not include transportation, which can vary substantially from case to case. In this sample, the cost of enrollment varies little from school to school: the least expensive school in the survery (Providence College) being only 9.8% below average, and the most expensive school (Georgetown University) being only 7.7% above average. Standard deviation for the sample population is only $1,494. The sample of 40 colleges is neatly divided in half by the median figure of $44,534. Surprisingly, no Ivy League shools are in the top ten, and only two (Harvard and Columbia) are above the median for the sample. See Table 1, below.

NOTE: Our sample was expanded to forty colleges, and the new results were published 5 July 2006.

For Connecticut residents, 2005-2006 UConn tuition and fees are $20,416, room and board is $7,704, and, assuming $2,245 in books, supplies, and personal expenses, the total cost of enrollment is $30,509. These figures are not included in the sample described above, or shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Cost of enrollment in selected four-year colleges for the 2005-2006 academic year

n = 40, standard deviation $1,494

Survey of college admissions offices conducted by Weston Wealth Strategies, March 2006; expanded and amended July 2006; does not include transportation. If colleges did not supply estimate for books, supplies and personal expense, a figure of $2,245 - the average of all other colleges that did supply such an estimate - was used.

* Added to survey July 2006

** Figures changed from March 2006 results; books, supplies and personal expense reduced from $2,500 to $2,245; total cost of enrollment reduced accordingly.

Other US Department of Education figures are given below, for comparison, and to help you prepare projections.

Table 2. Cost of enrollment, 2002-2003, according to the US Department of Education

Try our college savings calculator, or to prepare a comprehensive education savings plan, or for more information, please contact Jonathan E. Brochstein at Weston Wealth Strategies—(203) 319-9876 or contact Jonathan via email.