Students, families, and taxpayers now have easier access to information about college costs thanks to a new report released this week by the Department of Education.
In an October 14 Electronic Announcement, the Department of Education (the Department) announced the release of the 2025 College Affordability and Transparency Report (CATR), which is based on responses submitted by colleges and universities in the College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF).
According to the Department, the report provides transparency for students and families when it comes to making college choices as well as insight into the cost of higher education and why those costs have increased over the years.
The report is one of the Administration’s goals to increase transparency in higher education and was prompted by policy changes aimed at making college more affordable, including provisions enacted through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.
The 2025 CATR includes responses from approximately 450 colleges and universities that were required to complete the 2025 CATEF. In the responses, 198 institutions were identified to have the highest increase in tuition and fees and 216 were identified as having the highest increase in net costs. A variety of reasons were reported for the increase in costs, including adding staff, increased salaries and wages, and increased operational costs. Sixty percent of the institutions responded that they had no plans to lower their prices. The other 40 percent indicated they plan to lower costs, thus making affordability a priority.
The list also indicates that many times there is a difference between an institution’s published tuition and fees and what the average student actually pays, resulting in sticker shock for many first-generation and low-income students. Students are encouraged to review all information available to them in order to make the best decision possible for their educational pursuits. Tools such as the FAFSA Lower Earnings Indicator and the College Affordability and Transparency Center are additional resources students and families can use.
Publishing this type of information is not something new as the Department has been publishing information on rising prices at institutions of higher education since 2011. The Higher Education Act (HEA) requires the Department to collect data and publish reports on a variety of price metrics for the most recent academic year.
The Office of Postsecondary Education publishes an annual list of institutions in the top five percent of their sector for increases in prices. These institutions are required to submit a CATEF to the Secretary of Education.
Even though this information has been collected and published for over a decade, the public hasn’t been able to easily find or access the information. To ensure greater transparency to this information and allow the public to see the explanations provided by the institutions as to their rising costs, the Department is making the institutional responses submitted available in a downloadable format, allowing students and families the opportunity to view the expensive institutions as well as the lower-cost schools.
