College operating costs rose 3.4% in fiscal 2024
Ben Unglesbee
December 16, 2024
Commonfund Institute’s latest Higher Education Price Index shows that cost spikes slowed — but that doesn’t make them any less painful.
Dive Brief:
Costs for operating a college rose 3.4% in fiscal 2024, according to the latest Higher Education Price Index from the Commonfund Institute.
The price increases outpaced Commonfund’s preliminary projections this spring of 3% for the year. However, the HEPI showed that inflation has slowed more than half a percentage point from fiscal 2023 and is down nearly 2 percentage points from 2022’s 5.2% inflation rate.
Utility prices and those for supplies and materials slowed the most significantly, after recent years of volatility in those areas. While costs for institutions are cooling, “there is an ongoing trend of inflation rates remaining elevated compared with the previous decade,” Commonfund said.
