The Cost of a Bachelor’s Degree

Student protests and news about rising college fees may have you wondering how much a bachelor’s degree actually costs. When you see tuition in the five-to-six figure range, you may wonder if these numbers are accurate or exaggerations. As with many things, it depends.

Bachelor’s degree programs are offered at public and private non-profit colleges and universities as well as at private for-profit colleges. Depending on the type of school you attend, your costs could vary dramatically. In addition, you may pay more to attend an out-of-state school than if you stayed closer to home.

How Much Does Tuition Cost?

The U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center features user-generated reports detailing national averages for different types of colleges. The latest data from the academic year 2009-2010 reveals the following national average costs for tuition and fees at four-year colleges:

• Public, four-year or above – $6,397 per year
• Private not-for-profit, four-year or above – $21,324 per year
• Private for-profit, four-year or above – $15,661 per year

If you do the math, you’ll see that the national average for a four-year education culminating in a bachelor’s degree at a public college is $25,588. Based on the above national averages, it’s reasonable to expect to pay about $60,000 more for a bachelor’s degree from a private, not-for-profit college.

However, costs vary dramatically from one college to another, even within the same category. For example, tuition at Florida’s Palm Beach State College, a public college, was less than $2,000 per year. In contrast, tuition at Pennsylvania State averaged $14,416 per year.

Similarly, bargains can be found in the private, not-for-profit system with Kentucky’s Berea College charging just $876 for tuition each year. Brigham Young University in Hawaii sounds expensive, doesn’t it? Despite the name recognition and exotic island setting, tuition at this private university was just $3,800 per year in 2009-2010.

Related Bachelor’s Degree Costs

Tuition is generally the biggest expense related to a bachelor’s degree, but others exist.

• Room and Board – Unless you choose an online bachelor’s degree program or attend a campus close to home, you’ll need to factor in boarding.
• Textbooks – According to CollegeBoard.com, the national average cost for college textbooks and supplies for 2011-2012 was $1,168.
• Transportation – Often overlooked, the cost of getting to and from campus adds up. If you commute, you’ll incur gas, parking and routine vehicle costs. If you attend school far from home, you’ll have local transportation needs as well as occasional long distance trips home each year.

Is the Cost of a Bachelor’s Degree Worth It?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, bachelor’s degree holders earned an average weekly salary of $1,137 between 2005-2009 – nearly twice as much as high school graduates with no college ($626 per week) and quite a bit higher than associate degree holders ($726 per week). Moreover, bachelor’s degree holders had significantly better unemployment rates (just over 4 percent) than their lesser-educated coworkers in 2009, when the national average unemployment rate was just over 9 percent.

Significantly higher earnings and job stability in an uncertain job market suggest that a bachelor’s degree is an investment that could pay big rewards.