有些大学每年的学费超过10万美元。但事实真的如此吗？
【中美创新时报2025 年 4 月 30 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）大学学费的标价（大部分）都是虚构的。以下是实际计算方法。《波士顿环球报》记者迪蒂·科利对此作了下述详细报道。
在大学里，学年结束时总是例行公事：教授批改期末考试。学生们收拾好宿舍。大学公布下一学年的学费，几乎不可避免地会比前一年高。
这些永无止境的增长意味着许多美国人认为四年制大学学位的费用太高，他们负担不起，一些研究表明，这阻碍了学生追求高等教育。
这种说法有一定的道理：就读私立大学的费用超过美国家庭的平均收入（80,610 美元），而美国人为了获得大学学位背负着约 1.7 万亿美元的债务，而且这一数字还在不断增长。
然而，高等教育虽然绝对算不上低成本，但通常也并非表面看起来那么极端。根据非营利性大学和职业辅导机构斯特拉达教育基金会 (Strada Education Foundation) 11 月份的一项调查，超过一半的公众高估了大学的实际成本。五分之一的受访者至少高估了大学入学成本的 20%。
这是一个很容易犯的错误。大学宣传的价格和学生最终支付的价格之间的差距随着时间的推移越来越大。收入最低的美国家庭通常支付的大学学费也最少；收入最高的家庭支付的大学学费也最多。然而，美国大学理事会发现 ，今年公立和私立大学的平均净成本（即家庭最终自掏腰包支付的费用）均有所下降。
韦尔斯利学院经济学教授、大学学费研究领域的领军研究员菲利普·莱文表示，非营利组织、州政府和大学本身也在积极推动提高大学学费透明度。学校为家庭增加了学费计算器，扩大了助学金办公室，在某些情况下，还将标价降低到更接近学生实际支付的价格。
但仍有许多工作要做，莱文补充道。
“毫无疑问，我们处于劣势，”他说。“很多人觉得大学学费高得离谱，这种看法已经存在了。每次看到新闻标题说大学学费要10万美元，都会不经意地误导人们。”
这就是数学的真正运作方式。
什么是标价？
标价是指联邦政府要求各大学每年公布的入学总费用，包括学费、杂费、住宿费和伙食费。 这 是学生可能支付的最高费用，在包括阿默斯特学院和塔夫茨大学在内的许多私立大学，标价高达8.5万美元。
但莱文说，标价通常包括许多学生不支付的费用，例如旅行费或额外的健康保险费。
然后是经济援助。许多大学随着时间的推移增加了学生的折扣，但这并没有反映在公布的标价中。这些优惠在四年的学习期间也可能发生变化，例如，如果学校 在大一之后减少奖学金或其他援助。
斯特拉达大学经济负担高级副总裁贾斯汀·德雷格表示，大学费用是由 政府拨款、机构支持以及校外奖学金和贷款等多种因素共同决定的，这些资金“出发点是好的，但很少协调一致”。“这使得最终价格很难确定。”
谁支付标价？
学生相对较少。
布鲁金斯学会 3 月份发表的莱文研究表明，到 2024 年，马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校等旗舰公立大学通常向中等收入家庭收取 22,000 至 30,000 美元的学费，低于 33,100 美元的标价。
该净价包含学生自付金额，包括部分学费和其他可能由贷款支付的费用。它不包括“赠款援助”，例如助学金和奖学金。
一位发言人表示，在弗雷明汉州立大学，几乎 90% 的学生都获得了经济援助，大约一半的学生根本不用支付学费，因为他们有资格获得针对 有特殊经济需要的学生的联邦佩尔助学金。
在学费昂贵的私立大学，标价和净价之间的差异最大。
莱文发现，在捐赠基金较少的学校，例如爱默生学院或伊曼纽尔学院，中等收入家庭每年需支付 2.6 万至 3.5 万美元。而在捐赠基金较多、提供更慷慨经济援助的学校，家庭收入不超过 13.5 万美元的学生， 即使全额学费高达 7.63 万美元，其学费也可能不到广告标价的一半：约 3.5 万美元。
总体而言，过去三十年来，所有学生的实际大学费用涨幅都低于标价。莱文发现，现在只有拥有大量捐赠基金的私立院校的高收入学生的自付费用才比十年前更高。
那么，如果大学费用比看上去的要低，为什么大学不这样宣传呢？
联邦政府要求大学公布全部就读费用，旨在防止大学隐瞒不可预见的费用。十多年前，官员们还要求学校在其网站上提供净成本计算器，让家庭能够根据收入和其他经济因素，了解预计的学位真实成本，包括他们需要借入的贷款金额。
有些学生确实会支付全额学费；事实上，一些大学依赖这些学生，因为他们会补贴那些不太富裕的同学。这种情况在名牌大学尤为明显，这些大学通常“不考虑学生经济状况”，这意味着他们承诺提供满足所有学生需求的经济援助组合。
根据国际教育协会的数据，81%的外国本科生完全自费支付学费。61%的硕士生（无论来自哪里）也完全自费支付学费。
大学费用研究员莱文表示，折扣可以成为一种强大的营销工具，影响家庭在多所 学校之间做出选择。当家长们发现自己支付的费用远低于广告宣传的价格时，他说：“这感觉很划算。”
卡尔顿学院教授内森·格劳（Nathan Grawe）研究了大学面临的挑战。他表示，低收入学生有时没有意识到标价与他们实际支付的价格不同。这可能会阻碍中低收入家庭的学生申请某些学校，甚至阻碍他们继续接受高等教育。
“有些家庭对私立高等教育有着深厚的了解，这种教育模式既有高昂的标价，也有高额的资助，他们很清楚标价对他们来说并不特别重要，”他说。“但现在在这个体系中失去的是第一代学生，那些社会经济地位较低的学生。”
大学的学费会下降吗？
绝大多数大学每年都会提高或维持其总就读成本。但也有例外。一些规模较小的学校最近降低了广告宣传的费用，以更好地反映大多数学生的支付能力。例如，位于牛顿的莱塞尔大学 (Lasell University) 在 2022 年将标价降低了三分之一，降至 4 万美元左右。
校长埃里克·特纳 (Eric Turner) 表示，此举并没有明显降低就读拉塞尔大学的费用，但它帮助更多学生考虑就读该校。
他说：“我们想确保学生们知道拉塞尔大学是一所值得他们关注的大学。”
事实上，这一变化导致拉塞尔学院的申请人数在过去两年里增加了20%，入学人数也大幅上升。新罕布什尔州的科尔比-索耶学院也出现了类似的趋势，据招生管理和市场营销副总裁瓦尔·勒克莱尔称，该学院的年度学费从46,364美元降至17,500美元，预计今年入学人数将再次增长。
在标价重新设定之前，两所学校的学生都没有支付全额费用。
学生如何才能知道大学的真实价格？
虽然大学提供的净成本计算器并非都是一样的，但财政援助专家表示，这些计算器很容易使用，通常足以估算实际成本。
大学费用透明度倡议组织已经招募了数百所大学，其中包括马萨诸塞州的 15 所大学，采用标准化的助学金语言，让学生更清楚地了解真实的价格。
非营利组织uAspire的财务咨询副总裁约书亚·艾蒂安（Joshua Etienne）警告称，学校并不总是保证提供经济援助。有些经济援助是基于学生的学业成绩，而有些则只涵盖学生在校期间的部分时间，或者主要依靠必须偿还的贷款。
“如果你上了这所学校，就能赚到足够的钱来支付学费，这种想法并非板上钉钉，”艾蒂安说。“而且一旦入学，也不能保证你还能获得额外的资助。”
题图：有些学校10万美元的学费令人咋舌，但实际价格却并非如此。原因如下。Adobe ，Ally Rzesa/Globe 员工
附原英文报道：
Some colleges cost more than $100,000 a year to attend. But do they, really?
The sticker price of college is (mostly) made up. Here’s how the math actually works.
By Diti Kohli Globe Staff,Updated April 30, 2025
The eye-popping $100,000 price tag of some schools is not what it seems. Here’s why.Adobe, Ally Rzesa/Globe Staff
At universities, the academic year ends with a familiar routine: Professors grade final exams. Students pack up their dorms. Universities announce tuition for the next year, almost inevitably higher than the year before.
Those never-ending increases mean that many Americans believe a four-year college degree is so exorbitantly expensive they cannot afford it, which — some research indicates — deters students from pursuing higher education.
There is some truth to that: The cost of attending a private university exceeds the median income of a household in the United States ($80,610), and Americans suffer under loads of debt, around $1.7 trillion and growing, in pursuit of college degrees.
But postsecondary education, while not low-cost by any means, is often not as extreme as it seems. More than half of the public overestimates the actual cost of college, according to a survey in November from the Strada Education Foundation, a college and career coaching nonprofit. One in five survey participants overshot the cost of attendance by at least 20 percent.
This Mass. college cracks $100,000 a year — and others are close behind
Is a college degree really worth it? Inside the heated debate about the value of higher education.
It’s an easy mistake to make. The gap between the price colleges advertise and what students end up paying has widened with time. American households that earn the least generally also pay the least for college; those that earn the most pay the most. For all students, though, the average net cost of college — what families ultimately pay out of pocket — decreased this year at both public and private universities, the College Board found.
There is also a movement underway at nonprofits, state governments, and universities themselves to make college costs more transparent, said Phillip Levine, a Wellesley College economics professor and a leading researcher on college prices. Schools have added cost calculators for families, expanded financial aid offices, and in some instances, reduced the sticker price closer to what students actually pay.
But there is still much work to do, Levine added.
“There’s no question that we are behind the eight ball,” he said. “The perception that college is financially inaccessible for many people is out there. Every time there is another headline that says college costs $100,000, it inadvertently misleads people.”
Here’s how the math really works.
The cost of college is a lie (most of the time)
What is sticker price?
The sticker price is the total cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, housing, and food, that the federal government requires colleges to publish annually. It is the highest price a student could possibly pay and tops $85,000 at many private colleges, including Amherst College and Tufts University.
But the sticker price often includes expenses many students do not pay, such as travel costs or additional health insurance coverage, Levine said.
Then there’s financial aid. Many universities have increased discounts for students over time, but that is not reflected in the published sticker price. Those offers can also change over the four years of study, for instance if schools dial back scholarships or other assistance after freshman year.
Justin Draeger, senior vice president of affordability at Strada, said college costs are determined by a patchwork of government funding, institutional support, and outside scholarships and loans that are “well-intentioned, but rarely coordinated,” he said. ”That makes it tough to pin down what the price will be.”
Who pays the sticker price?
Relatively few students.
Levine’s research, published by The Brookings Institution in March, shows that flagship public universities such as UMass Amherst typically charged middle-income households between $22,000 and $30,000 for tuition in 2024, less than the $33,100 sticker price.
That net price includes what students pay out of pocket, including the portion of their tuition and other expenses that may be covered by loans. It does not include “gift aid,” such as grants and scholarships.
At Framingham State University, almost 90 percent of students receive financial aid, and about half pay no tuition at all because they are eligible for federal Pell grants for students with exceptional financial need, a spokesperson said.
The discrepancy between sticker and net price is largest at pricey private colleges.
At schools with small endowments, such as Emerson or Emmanuel College, middle-income households pay between $26,000 and $35,000 a year, Levine found. At institutions with larger endowments that provide more generous financial aid, students whose families earn $135,000 or less may pay less than half the advertised sticker price: around $35,000, even though the full cost of attendance is $76,300.
In all, the true cost of college has risen more slowly than the sticker price over the last three decades for all students. Now only high-income students at private institutions with large endowments pay more out of pocket than they did a decade ago, Levine found.
So if college costs less than it seems, why do universities not advertise it that way?
The federal requirement that universities publish the full cost of attendance is intended to prevent colleges from hiding unforeseen costs. Officials also required schools over a decade ago to provide net cost calculators on their websites, allowing families to see the predicted true price of a degree, including the amount in loans they’ll need to take out, based on income and other economic factors.
There are some students who do pay full price; indeed, some universities rely on them, as they help subsidize their less well-to-do peers. This is most relevant at prestigious universities that are often “need blind,” meaning they promise a combination of financial aid that meet the needs of all students.
According to the Institute of International Education, 81 percent of foreign undergraduates completely fund their own tuition. The same is true for 61 percent of master’s students, regardless of where they are from.
Levine, the college cost researcher, said discounts can be a powerful marketing tool to influence families choosing among multiple schools. When families see they would pay far less than advertised, he said, “It feels like a good deal.”
Nathan Grawe, a Carleton College professor who has studied the challenges facing universities, said lower-income students sometimes do not realize the sticker price varies from what they will pay. This can stop students from low- and middle-income households from applying to certain schools or from pursuing higher education altogether.
“Some families have a deep history to private higher education that has this high sticker price, high-aid model, and they’re well aware that the sticker price is not particularly relevant for them,” he said. “But who loses out from the system now is the first-generation students, students of lower socioeconomic status.”
Will the sticker price of college ever go down?
The vast majority of universities raise or maintain their total cost of attendance year after year. But there are exceptions. Some smaller schools recently lowered their advertised cost to better reflect what most students pay. Lasell University in Newton, for example, decreased sticker price by one-third in 2022, to around $40,000.
The move did not tangibly reduce the cost of attending Lasell, said president Eric Turner, but it helped more students consider it.
“We wanted to make sure that students knew that Lasell was an institution that they should take a look at,” he said.
Indeed, the change led to a 20 percent increase in applications to Lasell and a substantial uptick in enrollment over the last two years. Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire saw a similar trend, with enrollment projected to grow again this year, after reducing its annual sticker price from $46,364 to $17,500, according to Val Leclair, vice president for enrollment management and marketing.
No students at either school paid the full cost before the sticker price was reset.
How can students tell the true price of college?
While not all net cost calculators colleges provide are created equal, financial aid experts said they are accessible and usually helpful enough to estimate an actual cost.
The College Cost Transparency Initiative has recruited hundreds of universities, including 15 in Massachusetts, to adopt standardized language on financial aid offers and make true prices clearer to students.
Joshua Etienne, vice president of financial advising at the aid nonprofit uAspire, warns that financial aid is not always a guaranteed commitment from the school. Some financial aid is based on students’ academic performance, while some only cover a portion of students’ time on campus or rely mostly on loans that must be paid back.
“The thought that if you go to this school, you’ll make more than enough money to deal with the price is not a for-sure thing,” Etienne said. “And you’re not guaranteed any additional funding once you start.”
