State funding for higher education increased by over 8% in the current fiscal year, while charitable donations to US colleges and universities rose by 7%. What remains to be seen is how much benefit trickles down to students once inflation factors in.

The College Board’s annual Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report was released recently. Among the headline findings: college tuition prices increased at extremely low rates for the second year in a row, reflecting both a combination of continued impacts of the pandemic and enrollment pressures from demographic trends.

The COVID pandemic has had a significant impact on higher education both in terms of enrollment and budgets. With federal stimulus pumping almost $40 billion into higher ed, we’re in uncharted water when it comes to forecasting future tuition cost trends.