How to pay university fees due to rising tuition fees

Higher education is becoming unaffordable for many students, with more and more colleges costing more than $100,000 a year, reports have found.

A recent poll conducted by the Lumina Foundation and Gallup found that only 12% of Americans surveyed said four-year colleges were affordable. The poll was conducted between June 1 and June 15 among 14,000 adults without a degree or working toward one, about 6,000 college graduates, and 2,000 employers. Cost is the biggest barrier to entry for prospective students, according to the same findings from the Lumina Foundation and Gallup, a previous Lumina Foundation and Gallup release said.

“Americans haven’t given up on higher education. They want it for their kids…but they wonder if they can afford it,” said Courtney Brown, chief data and research officer at the Lumina Foundation, which aims to improve access to higher education.

With so many families struggling to make ends meet, they are increasingly relying on federal and private aid to cover their costs.

Nearly half of families will borrow money to pay for college in the 2025-26 school year, and 68% of respondents said debt will always be part of their plans, according to Sallie Mae’s new How America Pays for College report. The survey was conducted between April and May among 1,000 parents of undergraduate students aged 18 to 24 and 1,000 undergraduate students.

In most cases, parents’ income and savings cover less than half of college costs. Education lenders have found that free funding from scholarships and grants accounts for more than a quarter of costs, with student loans accounting for the bulk of the remainder.

Surrey spokesman Rick Castellano said the family continues to take out loans at fairly stable interest rates despite the rising debt burden. However, he says, “When borrowing money for school fees, you definitely want to avoid borrowing too much. Ultimately, you need to have a plan for repayment.”

Another study by College Ave found that savings alone plays a small role in financing education, with families relying on a broader range of sources to afford college, including savings, student employment, federal and private student loans, and credit cards. In June, a private student loan company conducted a survey of 1,000 parents of current college students attending four-year universities.

Parents who saved for college in 2026 reported putting aside $37,897, down from $51,310 in 2025, according to College Avenue.

Among families who saved for college, only 16% said they felt they could cover the total cost of a degree with savings alone, down from 27% a year ago.

The findings come as families face new limits on federal student loans. Starting this year, legislation enacted in President Donald Trump’s “Big and Beautiful Bill” caps the amount students can borrow.

The Sallie Mae report found that two-thirds (66%) of households surveyed responded to restrictions on federal student loan assistance.

“We’ll see how it goes next year,” Castellano said. “It will be interesting to see whether this changes how students and families approach school selection. We know they are considering cost as well as academics.”

Other than buying a home, a college education is now the largest expense an individual will make in their lifetime.

It wasn’t always like that. An analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C., says that in recent decades, deep cuts in state funding have contributed to steep tuition increases, shifting much of the cost of college to students and their families.

Historically, tuition has risen about 3% annually, according to the College Board. However, during the Great Recession, tuition costs soared due to decreased national investment. At private four-year schools, average tuition and fees rose 26% from 2008 to 2018. Tuition and fees at four-year public schools, which were harder hit, rose 35% over the same period.

The recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic has led to new cuts to public universities, according to a CBPP study.

Tuition currently accounts for about half of university revenue, with state and local governments providing the other half. But previously, the allocation was very different, with tuition providing about a quarter of the revenue, and state and local governments receiving the rest.

A 2026 report from JPMorgan Asset Management, based on data through the end of 2025, found that college tuition is growing at a much faster pace than other household expenditures because universities receive less financial support from states and are more dependent on tuition revenue.

Schools have increased spending to hire teachers, improve facilities and attract students, and tuition has risen about 5.5% annually, outpacing inflation and wage increases, according to JPMorgan Asset Management.

At this rate, “I wouldn’t be surprised if more students and families start thinking about the cost and ROI of a degree,” Castellano said. “We want to get the most value out of our important investments.”

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