College costs in 1959 vs the pain of today: What changed (and by how much)

College in the mid-20th century definitely came with costs — tuition, room and board and other expenses — but when you adjust for inflation, the totals were still far lower than what most students and families face now. We’ve found some actual numbers reported in the 1950s and ’60s, and they show a clear shift in how much college costs have grown over time. Seeing those amounts in context helps make sense of just how much has changed — and how quickly.

How much did college cost in the 1950s and ’60s?

In 1959, Newsweek reported that room and board at many colleges ran between $605 and $1,100 a year, with most falling in the $700–$800 range. Even with tuition added in, many students paid less than $2,000 per year. U.S. News & World Report followed up in 1967 with a broader view: Colleges were spending around $2,222 per student each year at public institutions, and $3,414 at private ones. Those figures included educational expenses, not necessarily the full amount students paid — but they’re still useful for showing how much lower costs were overall.

To get a more complete picture, we turned to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. In the 1968–69 school year, the full cost of attendance (including tuition, fees, room and board) at a 4-year public college was about $1,245. At a private nonprofit school, the full cost was $2,520. When adjusted for inflation, that’s about $11,400 and $23,100, respectively, in 2020–21 dollars.

By comparison, the full cost of attendance in 2020–21 had climbed to $22,180 for public 4-year colleges and $50,770 for private nonprofit ones. So even when adjusted for inflation, the total cost of college roughly doubled at public schools and more than doubled at private ones.

College costs were structured differently back then, too. More of the price was covered through public funding, and financial aid leaned more toward grants than loans. Most students didn’t leave school in debt, and for many families, it was possible to pay as you went — especially if a student worked part-time or lived at home. The costs were real, but the financial pressure was lighter.

Wondering exactly how much it cost to go to college back when your parents or grandparents were applying? Below, we’ve pulled together some data reported from the 1950s and 1960s, showing how quickly things can change in just a couple of generations.