<P> The total cost of all higher education in 2002 was $289 billion . </P> <P> One theory for the continual increase in tuition is that universities prioritize endowment growth over educational interests . A possible explanation for this is that universities are concerned with intergenerational equity for the benefit of future generations of students, as well as the overall benefit to society . This means that the universities will usually seek to grow their endowments to sustain their level of activity well into the future . Arguments against this justification mainly focus on the idea that the intergenerational equity theory does not accurately reflect the behavior of institutions with large endowments . Peter Conti - Brown, for example, describes how many of the elite universities cut their budgets during the recession despite sitting atop multibillion - dollar endowments, which were theoretically supposed to act as cushions during such economic downturns . </P> <P> Still, tuition increases may not be completely the responsibility of the higher education institutions . Instead, an article written by Archibald and Feldman suggests that tuition increases simply reflect the increasing costs of producing higher education . According to the cost - disease theory, it would be difficult to achieve cuts in per - student cost without the deterioration of quality in the education . While the decision - making of college administrators does come into play, the argument is that there are more fundamental and economy - wide factors that result in cost increases . A general economic trend is that costs in service industries grow more rapidly than in manufacturing industries, and increase in higher education costs is simply a reflection of this phenomenon . Some universities describe being caught in a dilemma where they are pressured to offer broader curricula and improve facilities to attract new students on one hand, but on the other hand these universities must raise tuition to compensate for state spending cuts and rising expenses . </P> <P> Annual undergraduate tuition varies widely from state to state, and many additional fees apply . Listed tuition prices generally reflect the upper bound that a student may be charged for tuition . In many cases, the "list price" of tuition ---that is, the tuition rate broadcast on a particular institution's marketing platforms--- may turn out to be different from the actual (or net) tuition charged per student . A student that has applied for institution - based funding will know his or her net tuition upon receipt of a financial aid package . Since tuition does not take into account other expenses such as the cost of living, books, supplies and other expenses, such additional amounts can cause the overall cost of college to exceed the tuition rate multiplied by the number of courses the student is planning to take . </P>

Number of 4 year universities in the us