Some private universities in D.C. estimate the cost to attend for the 2026-27 school year will be near or above six figures.
Jon Marcus, senior higher education reporter with The Hechinger Report, told WTOP the cost of tuition is starting to go up after years of falling, when adjusted for inflation.
“The expenses of running a college and university are rising, especially labor costs and benefits,” he said.
Another reason tuition is rising, Marcus said, is because the number of new international students coming to study in the U.S. has lessened by 100,000, as a result of policy changes made by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“International students — undergraduates, in particular — almost all of them pay full tuition and essentially subsidize American domestic students. And without them, colleges are being forced to raise their prices,” he said.
But the cost of admission estimates put out by colleges and universities can be very misleading, Marcus said.
“At George Washington, 80% of the students get a discount. The price that they actually pay, based on their income, is something between $17,000 a year, and for the very wealthiest students, about $55,000 a year. So almost no one is paying $98,000,” he said.
WTOP checked on the cost of admission some other private schools in D.C. are estimating for next year.
American University estimates the cost for a new student will be almost $105,000. At the George Washington University, the cost estimate for returning students is about $98,000. The estimates include tuition and things such as fees, food, housing and books.
At Catholic University, it’s about $89,000, and at Howard University, it’s about $66,000.
Marcus called it “strange” and “self defeating” for colleges and universities to advertise one price but charge another.
“There’s a survey by the student loan company Sallie Mae that finds that 80% of families won’t apply to a college when they think the price is too high, without understanding that, again, they probably will not pay that price,” he said.
In the 2025 survey, Sallie Mae reported nearly nine in 10 families — 89% — believe college is a worthwhile investment, and 82% are willing to stretch their finances to ensure their students go to good schools.
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