The recent headlines about 15 U.S. colleges now charging more than $100,000 a year have sparked predictable outrage. On a CNN panel, one host declared, “You do the math—that is nearly $500,000 for a bachelor’s degree,” and questioned whether higher education is still worth it. A panelist called college “the most federally subsidized institutions in our economy, and the worst value for the consumer,” while another fretted over $120,000 in student loans.
But this narrative is deeply misleading. It ignores what most students actually pay, how much they borrow, and the real value of a degree. The vast majority of undergraduates attend public institutions, where average in-state tuition and fees are about $11,950 a year at four-year schools and $4,150 at two-year colleges, according to the College Board. Private nonprofit four-year schools average $45,000 in tuition and fees.
More importantly, most students don’t pay the sticker price. After financial aid, net tuition has actually been falling. At public four-year universities, the average net price dropped from $4,450 in 2012–13 to $2,300 last year (inflation-adjusted). At private nonprofits, it fell from $19,810 in 2006 to $16,910 today. The “total cost of attendance”—including room, board, and other expenses—averages about $30,990 at in-state public schools and $65,470 at private nonprofits, but over 85% of undergraduates receive aid, and many pay nothing.
Even at the 15 institutions now charging $100,000, average financial aid discounts for needy students range from 41% to 78%. For many low- and middle-income families, these elite schools can be more affordable than public universities. And the typical graduate isn’t drowning in debt: more than half finish with no education loans, and the average debt among the 47% who borrow is $29,560—less than the average cost of a new car. Median debt at Ivy League schools is even lower, from $10,450 at Princeton to $21,500 at Columbia.
For most students, college remains a solid investment. A 2025 Georgetown University report found that prime-age workers with a bachelor’s degree earn 70% more at the median than high school graduates and face far lower unemployment (2.9% vs. 6.2%). A 2025 Brookings study concluded that “the financial return to a bachelor’s degree has not declined,” with graduates earning two to three times more over their careers and gaining more than $1 million over a lifetime, after accounting for tuition and lost earnings.
The Real Risk: Dropping Out
The greatest financial danger isn’t high tuition—it’s leaving college without a degree. Only 61% of students who started in 2019 earned a credential within six years, and for the lowest-income students, the completion rate drops to 50%. Those who drop out still face loan payments and lost wages but never get the earnings boost that comes with a degree. They report significantly lower financial well-being than even those who never attended college.
This suggests we should worry less about elite schools, where high prices are paired with ample aid, high graduation rates, and strong job outcomes, and more about colleges with abysmal completion rates. For-profit institutions average just 20–30% graduation rates, and some open-admission schools graduate only 28% of students—with some as low as 2%. In contrast, schools that accept fewer than 25% of applicants graduate 90% of their students.
Students who are most likely to drop out often enter with limited financial resources. These institutions need better academic advising, tutoring, clearer degree pathways, flexible course schedules, transfer policies that don’t waste credits, and targeted financial aid. Government and accrediting agencies should hold persistently failing schools accountable for their outcomes.
Elite colleges, meanwhile, should do a better job justifying six-figure charges—even if it means acknowledging an “open secret” about what those costs actually cover. But the bigger scandal in American higher education isn’t the price tag at a few wealthy universities; it’s the failure of many institutions to graduate the students they admit, leaving them with debt and no degree.
