How Does a College Actually Spend Your Tuition?

Tuition costs are nothing, if not frustrating. It’s become more and more difficult to manage tuition costs because they have risen more than the inflation rate. However, in the conversation about tuition costs, one thing has been missing from the conversation—an understanding of where that money goes.

Here’s what you need to know about how a college will spend your tuition.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

— William Butler Yeats

Direct Costs of Education

The most prominent element of college tuition costs, on average, are the so-called “direct” costs of education.

These costs include several different factors, but the thing they all have in common is that they’re directly impacting your educative experience.

Costs such as these:

$15.81 – Professor Salaries
$11.47 – Instruction Expenses
$9.61 – Auxiliary Enterprises
$8.26 – Academic Support
$8.15 – Institutional Support
$4.75 – Student Services
$3.41 – Grants and Financial Aid

All in all, these direct education costs account for $61.46 of every $100 of college tuition. That includes everything from salaries for staff and professors to financial aid and similar methods of helping students succeed.

“A good teacher is like a candle — it consumes itself to light the way for others.”

— Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Less-Direct Costs of Education

There are also some less-direct costs of education. These costs are still extremely important and necessary.

However, they might not be part of what you use in the classroom every day.

Expenses like the following:

$15.58 – Hospitals and Healthcare
$11.66 – Research
$6.25 – Other Expenses, Including Taxes and Liabilities
$4.52 – Public Services
$0.53 – Independent Operations

You can see how these less-direct costs are just as significant as the direct ones.

Plus, this category includes hospitals and research institutions, which might not be part of the classroom learning process but are still extremely important.

“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”

— Ignacio Nacho Estrada

Private Colleges Vs. Public Colleges

An additional thing to think about when you’re considering costs for college is the importance of private versus public colleges.

Public colleges typically cost less, but they also spend their money differently, making it a different choice all around.

The most significant difference between public and private colleges’ spending habits is the difference between professors' salaries.

Out of your tuition, a public college will pay $5,987.96 on salaries, while a private college will pay $15,315.08.

Additionally, tuition has only been going up over the years.

In just the last decade, tuition costs have increased by more than 25%, which has been a frustrating thing for many people to deal with.

This percentage increase has an even more impact on private universities, which have higher rates to start with.

Conclusion

In the end, you'll find that colleges run similar to businesses. Of course, there are crucial differences, but the businesslike structure of colleges may be one of the reasons that tuition has continued to rise so dramatically.

No matter what colleges do in the future, this information can at least help you understand more about college as a whole and hopefully teach how to get the most bang for your buck.