About the Data

THE ANNUAL SURVEY OF COLLEGES

Prices described in this report are based on data reported to the College Board by colleges and universities in the Annual Survey of Colleges. Data for 2011-12 are from an online questionnaire distributed in October 2010, with data collected and reviewed through early September 2011. Tuition and fee figures are based on charges to full-time students over the course of a nine-month academic year of 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours. For those institutions with tuition and fees that vary by year of study, weighted average undergraduate tuition levels are used in the analysis. We are not able to estimate differences in tuition and fees by program, but rely on average prices reported by institutions.

ENROLLMENT-WEIGHTED AND UNWEIGHTED DATA

This report provides enrollment-weighted average prices. Charges reported by colleges with larger full-time enrollments are weighted more heavily than those of institutions with smaller enrollments. Unweighted average prices, with the charges of all reporting institutions treated equally, are available online at http://trends.collegeboard.org. The most recent enrollment data available are for fall 2010. For 2010-11 and earlier years, prices are weighted by same-year enrollments. For 2011-12, prices are weighted by fall 2010 enrollments. In other words, the percentage changes reported in Tables 1A and 1B reflect only price changes, not changes in enrollment patterns. In contrast, the historical data on changes in enrollment-weighted prices illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 reflect changes in both prices charged and in the distribution of full-time students across institutions.

IN-STATE AND OUT-OF-STATE TUITION AND FEES

In-state tuition and fees are weighted by full-time enrollment. Out-of-state tuition and fees are calculated by adding the nonresident premium, weighted by full-time out-of-state enrollment, to average in-state tuition and fees.

INSTITUTIONS INCLUDED IN CALCULATIONS

Out of the 3,423 public two-year, public four-year, private nonprofit four-year, and for-profit institutions that were surveyed in both 2010 and 2011, 3,068 were included in this year's analysis, including over 98% of the surveyed schools in the public and private nonprofit sectors and 51% of those in the for-profit sector. Our imputation process allows us to include schools for which we are missing one year of data. We exclude from our calculations military academies and other institutions that report zero tuition. Detailed information on the number of institutions included in the analysis for each sector is available online.

REVISION OF BASE-YEAR VALUES

The prices for 2010-11 used in this analysis differ somewhat from the 2010-11 averages reported last year. One factor contributing to the revision is the reweighting of the prices, shifting from fall 2009 to fall 2010 full-time enrollment figures. The base-year numbers also shift because several hundred institutions submit revised tuition figures for the previous year. The recomputed average for 2010-11 tuition and fees at public four-year institutions is $8 higher than the level we reported last year for in-state students and $53 higher for out-of-state students. The recomputed average for 2010-11 tuition and fees is $28 lower than the level we reported last year for private nonprofit four-year institutions and $14 higher for public two-year institutions. Our estimate of the average 2010-11 price for for-profit students is $105 higher than it was last year because of changes in full-time enrollment and changes in the number of institutions included in the calculations.