# How much was your college tuition the first year? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674 "2013-04-25T15:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/41 "2013-04-25T20:37:20Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Cornell University, College of Arts & Sciences - tuition around $15,000 in 1988, plus $5000 room & board. I don’t know exactly what I paid, but I found data at the Cornell website for 1990, which is probably comparable to 1988 - $15,164 tuition, $5000 room & board. > > I have to admit I do not remember what books cost, but I do not remember feeling outraged at prices, so.. ? > > ETA: 2013 tuition - $45,130, room & board around $11,700 Same school, College of Engineering. I don’t remember my first year, but my last year (1996 - '97) tuition was $20,000 even. That’s pretty comparable to what **Motorgirl** paid (that calculator says $15,000 (1988) = $20,177 (1997), so tuition kept an even pace with inflation over that decade. The tuition we paid then, though, is the equivalent of $28,900 now - at $45k, the real cost has skyrocketed. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/42 "2013-04-25T21:31:03Z")
Under $400/semester at CSU Sacramento in fall of 1987 for full time, in state students. Fall 2013, $1368. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/43 "2013-04-25T21:43:24Z")
For some reason, this bit of useless information has stuck with me: 1976, community college in Florida: $15/semester hour ($240 for a typical full-load semester) 1976, university in Florida: $23/hour ($368/semester). Add books, lab fees, etc (but lab fees were perhaps $10-15 for the course). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/44 "2013-04-25T21:49:52Z")
[del]Ohio State[/del] THE Ohio State University, 1963-64: Comprehensive Fee (residents’ tuition): $600. Rooming house: $30/month. Total for 3 quarters: $870 (not including books, etc.) Today, it would add up to $20,226. And I remember my father constantly bitching about the expense. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/45 "2013-04-25T22:00:02Z")
Another Cornell, 1991, Engineering. I was gonna say $25,000 but that must have been including expenses. Probably a bit below $20K. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/46 "2013-04-25T22:05:50Z")
I am pretty sure my first semester’s tuition, in-state, full load, was around $240…Possibly as high as $270. By the time I graduated (took me 5 years, but I was an engineering major and changed schools) it had risen to nearly $350, maybe $400. This would have been 1980-85. Metropolitan State College, University of Colorado at Denver. And AARP sent me a membership card yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/47 "2013-04-25T22:08:22Z")
When I started at California-Berkeley in the fall of 1980, it was around $1000/year. In 1982-83, it went up to $1100; in 1983-84, it went up again - I think to $1300. Some people believe that it was not a coincidence that California had a Democrat as Governor (who is also head of the Regents of the university) until November 1982, and a Republican after that; note that initially, the 1982-83 tuition was the same as in previous years, but there was a $100 “surcharge” added for the final third of the year, which, “coincidentally,” was after the election. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/48 "2013-04-25T23:10:55Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I started at Texas A&M in the fall of 1991, and if I remember right, tuition and fees was something like $1000 per semester for 15 hrs- it was around $30 per credit hour, but then they got you with the fees- they were as much as the tuition cost. > > A dorm rm in the expensive dorms was another $900 or so (this went up the following year to $1300, IIRC), and the meal plan in the dining halls varied, but the full one was almost $800, I think. > > Books ended up costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 per semester, give or take. > > Basically the state had capped tuition and subsidized room and board at that point, so costs were relatively low. Sometime in the late 90’s they quit subsidizing room and board, and in the early 2000s, they quit subsidizing tuition, and prices shot through the ceiling. Times have changed, I started there Fall 1976 and my first semester tuition, room and 7 day board plan was $996. Tuition was $4 an hour. Other fees brought the tuition/fees to about $250. Room was about $250 and board was almost $500. My daughter graduated last year and I was paying about $5000 a semester for her tuition and fees. The real difference is books, most of mine(still have all from my major) were $12 to $15 and many of hers were $300 and that is for downloads, not a hard copy. What a racket that is. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/49 "2013-04-25T23:15:04Z")
tuition, room and board, $1800, about $200 more than my parents claimed on income tax for their total income. Knox College, 1959. I think it advanced to about $2500 for my Senior year, and I graduated with $4000 in student loans to pay off over the next 10 years. Quite a bargain, really. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/50 "2013-04-26T00:13:03Z")
First year? Around $8000, all from a Pell Grant and scholarship, with about $4000 leftover. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/51 "2013-04-26T00:59:07Z")
Started LSU in '86. I recall tuition was about $700 for the fall semester. Fees added a couple hundred. Don’t recall what dorm and meal plan were. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/52 "2013-04-26T01:35:06Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Same school, College of Engineering. I don’t remember my first year, but my last year (1996 - '97) tuition was $20,000 even. That’s pretty comparable to what **Motorgirl** paid (that calculator says $15,000 (1988) = $20,177 (1997), so tuition kept an even pace with inflation over that decade. > > The tuition we paid then, though, is the equivalent of $28,900 now - at $45k, the real cost has skyrocketed. I worked at the Engineering Library as my work study job. I think you started just late enough that I didn’t check any books out to you. ☹ ETA - But I might have checked some out to **Ludovic**! ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/53 "2013-04-26T01:39:00Z")
I started at MIT in 1967. Tuition was $1900. I don’t recall what room and board was. Tuition was $2150 for my sophomore and junior years. My junior year 1969-70 was the last time MIT did not raise its tuition. Strangely, I don’t recall what it was for my senior year. I’d guess $2400. So it was about $8600 for the four years. This past year it was $41,770 more than 20 times my tuition 45 years ago. That’s 7.1% per year. Inflation has increased the general price level by 6.78 which is 4.3% per year. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/54 "2013-04-26T02:36:54Z")
I went to Geneva, a small, private Christian college in the wilds of Western PA. Cost for my freshman year of 1987: $5,340 Tuition and Fees. Anyone attending now is paying $32,790. To top that off, my major is no longer listed. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/55 "2013-04-26T02:52:07Z")
Back in the Dark Ages, 1967, my first year tuition to a private college was $2,000. Five-hundred of it was a scholarship. I only remember that because my mother kept reminding me of how expensive my education was. I don’t remember what I paid for my Master’s Degree, finished in 1984, but I do remember that it took me about fifteen years to pay it off. That was one happy day. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/56 "2013-04-26T03:23:46Z")
University of Kentucky, 1994-1998, about $1200/semester. It has quadrupled since then. Medical school '98-'02 (also at UK) was about $11K. People starting this fall will pay $33K. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/57 "2013-04-26T03:34:39Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I can’t remember. Private liberal arts college starting 1979. Probably around $10,000-$15,000 per year. Same here, but I started in 1985. I would have said about $15,000. Same school is just over $40K for tuition now. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/58 "2013-04-26T05:36:39Z")
At Cal-Berkeley in the fall of 1990, my in-state tuition and fees were about $550 for the semester. But my student housing at Clark-Kerr was close to $10,000 for the year (including meals). ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/59 "2013-04-26T07:01:32Z")
First quarter at University of Tennessee in 1968 was $240 and I think that included my dorm room. Books were extra. One of the most expensive cost $13.00. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674/60 "2013-04-26T07:16:06Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I started at MIT in 1967. Tuition was $1900. I don’t recall what room and board was. Tuition was $2150 for my sophomore and junior years. My junior year 1969-70 was the last time MIT did not raise its tuition. Strangely, I don’t recall what it was for my senior year. I’d guess $2400. So it was about $8600 for the four years. > > This past year it was $41,770 more than 20 times my tuition 45 years ago. That’s 7.1% per year. Inflation has increased the general price level by 6.78 which is 4.3% per year. MIT, 1969 - 1973, and I confirm these numbers. But you left out “Too Damn Much” (or TFM.) MIT had an annual spontaneous tuition riot when the numbers for next year were announced. However I could have gone to Cooper Union where the tuition was zero (which just ended.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-was-your-college-tuition-the-first-year/656674.md?page=4)