According to Sallie Mae's How America Pays for College study, families spent an average of around $34,000 on college for the 2025-26 academic year, up 10 percent from 2025 ($30,837).
Jennifer Finetti, Director of Student Advocacy at Scholarship Owl, says the reasons go beyond inflation.
"There's been a reduction sometimes in state financing to help pay for college due to, of course, pressure on states, financial pressure," she said. "Also, there has been a reduction in some of the federal support of colleges as well, particularly related to research funding that's available from the federal government."
Some of the biggest expenses families should plan for are housing and cost of living.
"I think for public and state universities, often the cost of housing can actually be more than the cost of tuition," Finetti said. "Obviously, that depends on the state. If you are talking about private colleges, then the cost of tuition can often be quite high."
Finetti says because the school application process itself can be labor-intensive, many financial aid and external scholarship opportunities, including the ones available on Scholarship Owl, go overlooked.
"I really advise families to try to reduce their reliance on loans and instead rely more on scholarships and other debt-free sources, like income from a job as well," she said. "A lot of families also don't realize that you can apply for scholarships for every year you'll be in school, not just as a high school senior applying to colleges for scholarships that first year."
She went on to say the best advice is to start the college planning conversation early.
Also, make the most of tax-advantaged opportunities to save, including the college 529 accounts.
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