Our 2026 Scorecard analysis finds on-campus room and board above in-state tuition at about three in four public four-years reporting both measures—with campus-level data to download.
Our analysis of the College Scorecard institutional extract from the Department of Education's June 10, 2026 data release covers 1,859 predominantly bachelor’s, four-year Title IV institutions in the 50 states (PREDDEG=3, ICLEVEL=1, OPEFLAG∈{1,2}). Among public institutions reporting both on-campus room-and-board and in-state tuition, room and board exceeds tuition at 74.6% (378 of 507). The same relationship appears at 1.3% of private nonprofits reporting both. Across all sectors reporting both measures, the share is 25.9% (392 of 1,516; 81.5% of the analysis universe).
We also publish three original cuts: an EDsmart housing-to-tuition ratio, an enrollment-weighted companion to the headline share, and named public campuses with the largest housing-over-tuition gaps. Download the headline dataset (CSV) — all 507 publics in the headline denominator.
The headline share counts institutions equally. It is not a student-weighted share, and it does not mean tuition is no longer the largest college expense nationally. Enrollment-weighted sensitivity appears below.
Table of Contents
Key Findings
Housing vs. Tuition by Control
The comparison uses Scorecard ROOMBOARD_ON (institution on-campus room-and-board living-expense estimate for full-time, first-time students) against TUITIONFEE_IN (in-state tuition and fees for publics; published tuition and fees for privates). It is an allowance-versus-sticker test among institutions for which an on-campus room-and-board figure is reported—not a claim about every student’s housing arrangement, and not housing versus net price after grants.
| Institution type | Share | Reporting both | Coverage of sector | Sector N |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year | 74.6% | 378 / 507 | 87.9% | 577 |
| Private nonprofit | 1.3% | 13 / 998 | 86.6% | 1,153 |
| Private for-profit | —* | 1 / 11 | 8.5% | 129 |
| All reporting both | 25.9% | 392 / 1,516 | 81.5% | 1,859 |
*For-profit row: only 11 of 129 schools report both measures (8.5% coverage); 1 exceed tuition. Share suppressed because the denominator is too thin for a sector rate.
For each institution reporting both measures with tuition > 0, we compute ROOMBOARD_ON ÷ TUITIONFEE_IN, then take the median and 90th percentile across schools. At the median reporting public institution, a ratio of 1.19× means room and board is 19% higher than published in-state tuition and fees. This is an EDsmart constructed metric—not a Scorecard field, and not a “housing burden” measure relative to household income.
| Institution type | Median ratio | 90th percentile | N |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year | 1.19× | 1.92× | 507 |
| Private nonprofit | 0.35× | 0.58× | 998 |
| Private for-profit | — | — | 11* |
*For-profit medians suppressed when N<30 (same thin-coverage rule as the sector share).
Private nonprofit median housing-to-tuition ratio is 0.35× (P90 0.58×; N=998)—tuition typically dominates sticker at privates even when housing costs are high in dollars.
The headline share weights each college equally. As a sensitivity check, we reweight the same housing>tuition flag by undergraduate enrollment (UGDS) among schools reporting both measures and UGDS>0. UGDS is not the FTFT Title IV population behind net price or COA averages; treat this as an enrollment-scale companion, not a student-bill estimate.
The all-sector weighted share rises sharply because public institutions enroll a much larger share of undergraduates than their share of institutions in the reporting sample. Public schools account for 70.1% of UGDS among the 1,516 institutions in this comparison (5,376,303 of 7,664,626 undergraduates), versus 33.4% of those institutions (507 of 1,516).
| Group | Institution-equal | UGDS-weighted | Schools in weighted N |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year | 74.6% | 76.1% | 507 |
| Private nonprofit | 1.3% | 2.4% | 998 |
| All reporting both | 25.9% | 54.1% | 1,516 |
Among the 507 public four-years reporting both measures, these campuses show the largest dollar gaps (room and board − in-state tuition) and the highest housing-to-tuition ratios. Lists are descriptive extremes—not “worst” rankings—and reflect Scorecard-reported allowances, not individual student invoices. Dollar gaps and ratios are computed from Scorecard ROOMBOARD_ON and TUITIONFEE_IN in this extract. Before naming a campus in secondary coverage, confirm against the institution’s published cost of attendance for the matching reporting year.
| # | Institution | State | Room & board | In-state tuition | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco State University | California | $22,266 | $7,950 | $14,316 |
| 2 | San Diego State University | California | $23,030 | $8,728 | $14,302 |
| 3 | College of Staten Island CUNY | New York | $21,155 | $7,490 | $13,665 |
| 4 | San Jose State University | California | $20,971 | $8,410 | $12,561 |
| 5 | California State University-Los Angeles | California | $19,696 | $7,160 | $12,536 |
| 6 | California State University-Fullerton | California | $19,080 | $7,470 | $11,610 |
| 7 | CUNY City College | New York | $18,840 | $7,340 | $11,500 |
| 8 | CUNY Bernard M Baruch College | New York | $18,832 | $7,464 | $11,368 |
| 9 | California State University-Sacramento | California | $19,174 | $8,018 | $11,156 |
| 10 | California State University-Dominguez Hills | California | $18,444 | $7,449 | $10,995 |
| # | Institution | State | Room & board | In-state tuition | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia Gwinnett College | Georgia | $15,220 | $4,532 | 3.36× |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic University | Florida | $15,860 | $4,879 | 3.25× |
| 3 | University of North Carolina at Pembroke | North Carolina | $11,858 | $3,648 | 3.25× |
| 4 | Dalton State College | Georgia | $10,419 | $3,336 | 3.12× |
| 5 | Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College | Georgia | $9,800 | $3,268 | 3.00× |
| 6 | Florida Polytechnic University | Florida | $14,482 | $4,940 | 2.93× |
| 7 | Gordon State College | Georgia | $10,444 | $3,628 | 2.88× |
| 8 | College of Staten Island CUNY | New York | $21,155 | $7,490 | 2.82× |
| 9 | San Francisco State University | California | $22,266 | $7,950 | 2.80× |
| 10 | California State University-Los Angeles | California | $19,696 | $7,160 | 2.75× |
Non-Tuition Allowances
Unweighted medians of separate Scorecard fields; not a single student’s joint budget
ROOMBOARD_ON)Room and board is the largest of these three national median non-tuition allowances. The public-sector housing-over-tuition pattern reflects the combination of these housing allowances and comparatively low in-state tuition at many public institutions. Allowances are institution estimates, not audited student spending. We do not convert the three medians into a joint percentage share of non-tuition costs.
Public-system comparisons use the median of institution-level average net prices among public four-years, requiring at least five institutions with net-price data. That is a minimum inclusion rule, not a reliability threshold—small-N medians remain sensitive to institutional mix.
Public four-years only • Medians of institution-level average net prices • N≥5 rule
The spread: The gap between South Dakota and Indiana public medians is $10,087 per year on these institution-level averages—about $40,348 across four years at the medians. That is descriptive state structure, not an individual student bill.
| Lowest median inst.-level avg. net | Highest median inst.-level avg. net | Spread | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public-only | Indiana $9,763 (N=12) | South Dakota $19,850 (N=6) | $10,087 |
All-sector complete-case state medians (descriptive; no ordinal ranks for N<5) appear in the appendix. Wyoming and similar small-N cells are mix diagnostics, not #1 “most affordable” claims.
Why It Matters
Pell Share and Racial Composition
Secondary cuts only: Two unadjusted comparisons often used in affordability coverage. Neither is a causal equity estimate, and both sit below the housing-versus-tuition finding.
Pell quartiles (unadjusted): High-Pell quartile median net $16,898 vs. low-Pell $25,171 — $8,273 lower at high-Pell institutions in this comparison (N=429 per quartile). Control mix differs: highest Pell quartile 112 public / 244 nonprofit / 73 for-profit; lowest 118 / 305 / 6. The analysis does not establish why.
| Metric | Amount | Definition in this analysis |
|---|---|---|
| Median institution-level average net price | $20,250 | Median across institutions of Scorecard NPT4_* (average net price for FTFT Title IV recipients; publics use in-state applicable students). N=1,718 |
| Median institution-level average COA | $37,220 | Median of COSTT4_A (average annual COA for FTFT degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates receiving Title IV aid at academic-year institutions). N=1,710 |
| Median school-level COA−net gap | $14,596 | Median of (COSTT4_A − NPT4) at schools reporting both (N=1,710). Largely reflects grant/scholarship aid embedded in Scorecard net price—not unmet need or expected borrowing, and not a reconstructed student grant package. |
| Institution type | Median avg. net | Median avg. COA | Housing > tuition | Both-measure coverage | N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public 4-year | $14,834 | $25,174 | 74.6% (378/507) | 87.9% | 577 |
| Private nonprofit | $22,723 | $50,086 | 1.3% (13/998) | 86.6% | 1,153 |
| Private for-profit | $30,852 | $37,368 | — (1/11) | 8.5% | 129 |
Scorecard REGION codes mapped to four regions (Northeast = New England + Mid East; Midwest = Great Lakes + Plains; South = Southeast + Southwest; West = Rocky Mountains + Far West).
| Region | Median avg. net | Median avg. COA | Median of (RB ÷ COA)* | N for ratio | Sector N |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | $22,277 | $42,972 | 27.8% | 436 | 508 |
| Midwest | $20,188 | $41,898 | 26.5% | 391 | 467 |
| South | $18,723 | $32,415 | 32.4% | 496 | 613 |
| West | $21,931 | $37,684 | 35.1% | 179 | 270 |
*Within each institution reporting both ROOMBOARD_ON and COSTT4_A, compute room-and-board ÷ COA, then take the regional median of those ratios. This is not median(RB) ÷ median(COA).
Primary source: College Scorecard institutional file (Department of Education data release June 10, 2026) — Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution extract from the Department of Education's June 10, 2026 Scorecard update (official download bundle College_Scorecard_Raw_Data_06102026). Cost fields are Scorecard institution-level averages for the FTFT Title IV cohort (primarily academic-year 2023–24 reporting in this build). See the Scorecard changelog for release notes.
Universe filters: 50 states; PREDDEG=3; ICLEVEL=1; OPEFLAG∈{1,2}. N=1,859.
Net price: First available of NPT4_PUB / NPT4_PRIV / NPT4_PROG / NPT4_OTHER (Scorecard average net price). Reported national and state figures are medians of those institution-level averages.
COA: COSTT4_A — average annual cost of attendance for FTFT Title IV undergraduates at academic-year institutions (not a pasted sticker catalog price).
Housing vs. tuition: ROOMBOARD_ON > TUITIONFEE_IN among institutions reporting both (institution-equal share).
Housing-to-tuition ratio (EDsmart): Within-school ROOMBOARD_ON ÷ TUITIONFEE_IN (tuition > 0), then median and 90th percentile by control; public state medians require N≥5. Not a housing-cost-to-income “burden” measure.
Enrollment-weighted companion: Same housing>tuition flag, weighted by UGDS among schools reporting both with UGDS>0. All-sector weighted share is pulled up by publics’ larger UGDS share (70.1% of UGDS vs 33.4% of institutions in the 1,516-school comparison).
Named extremes: Public four-years reporting both; top 10 by (ROOMBOARD_ON − TUITIONFEE_IN) and by housing-to-tuition ratio.
Headline microdata: Download the headline dataset (CSV) — all 507 public institutions in the headline denominator (UNITID, INSTNM, STABBR, CONTROL, UGDS, TUITIONFEE_IN, ROOMBOARD_ON, housing_gt_tuition, housing_tuition_ratio).
State appendix: Complete-case institutions with net, tuition, and COA all non-missing; companion medians share that sample. N column is complete-case N.
Public state highlights: Public control only; net-price N≥5.
Aggregation: Unweighted institution-level medians unless noted. UGDS-weighted figures are sensitivity context only (UGDS ≠ NPT4 / COSTT4_A population).
Institutions are weighted equally in the headline share and most medians; a small college counts the same as a large university unless a UGDS-weighted companion is shown.
ROOMBOARD_ON applies where on-campus living costs are reported; missingness is informative, especially for campuses without standard on-campus housing.
Published COA components are not “hidden” from federal disclosures; the contribution of this analysis is attention, sector structure, and constructed ratios—not discovery of undisclosed fees.
Named extremes can reflect low tuition, high housing allowances, or both; verify campus context before treating a gap as a policy verdict.
Pell and composition cuts are descriptive only, not causal estimates.
Cost metrics and any future outcome metrics refer to different Scorecard cohorts; this report does not pair earnings with cost in the main tables.
Complete-case medians for description only—not a ranked affordability list. Sorted by median institution-level average net price for reference; states with complete-case N<5 are marked with an asterisk and should not be treated as ordinal “rankings.”
Tuition mixes public in-state and private published tuition at the institution level.
| State | Median inst.-level avg. net | Median tuition & fees | Median FTFT avg. COA | N (complete) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | $12,570 | $8,183 | $23,274 | 9 |
| Wyoming* | $13,599 | $7,768 | $24,818 | 1 |
| West Virginia | $13,684 | $10,104 | $22,022 | 19 |
| Louisiana | $14,208 | $10,272 | $25,399 | 26 |
| Alaska* | $15,301 | $8,736 | $24,096 | 3 |
| North Dakota | $15,543 | $10,951 | $23,716 | 9 |
| Delaware* | $15,599 | $13,785 | $27,220 | 4 |
| Mississippi | $15,676 | $10,202 | $28,660 | 15 |
| Oklahoma | $15,848 | $10,016 | $27,341 | 22 |
| Nevada | $15,927 | $9,748 | $25,786 | 5 |
| Hawaii | $16,774 | $12,186 | $25,098 | 7 |
| Montana | $16,784 | $8,460 | $23,570 | 9 |
| Michigan | $16,875 | $24,705 | $39,042 | 44 |
| Arkansas | $17,002 | $13,014 | $27,767 | 21 |
| Kentucky | $17,560 | $26,922 | $40,524 | 28 |
| Colorado | $18,078 | $13,062 | $30,448 | 20 |
| Maryland | $18,526 | $13,256 | $31,865 | 29 |
| South Carolina | $18,570 | $17,792 | $34,448 | 34 |
| New Jersey | $18,745 | $17,329 | $35,748 | 46 |
| Alabama | $18,749 | $12,890 | $27,392 | 27 |
| Tennessee | $18,759 | $21,400 | $35,688 | 41 |
| North Carolina | $18,853 | $20,785 | $35,165 | 57 |
| Maine | $18,885 | $23,304 | $35,852 | 17 |
| New York | $19,035 | $19,550 | $32,596 | 153 |
| Illinois | $19,125 | $32,200 | $44,613 | 57 |
| Georgia | $19,216 | $14,258 | $31,824 | 54 |
| Nebraska | $19,241 | $20,640 | $32,845 | 19 |
| Indiana | $19,310 | $32,352 | $44,776 | 45 |
| Texas | $19,359 | $13,498 | $27,981 | 87 |
| Idaho | $19,481 | $11,802 | $28,224 | 9 |
| South Dakota | $20,183 | $10,500 | $25,753 | 11 |
| Missouri | $20,218 | $19,975 | $33,734 | 51 |
| Minnesota | $20,227 | $25,600 | $41,013 | 39 |
| Ohio | $21,058 | $31,210 | $44,658 | 73 |
| Wisconsin | $21,260 | $33,396 | $44,450 | 33 |
| Florida | $21,293 | $19,975 | $34,870 | 61 |
| Utah | $21,626 | $9,424 | $27,828 | 10 |
| Virginia | $22,213 | $21,803 | $42,312 | 47 |
| Iowa | $22,531 | $36,710 | $51,141 | 29 |
| Arizona | $22,583 | $17,850 | $37,594 | 17 |
| Kansas | $22,595 | $33,350 | $46,837 | 26 |
| Washington | $22,662 | $20,928 | $40,568 | 25 |
| Oregon | $23,282 | $19,920 | $36,870 | 20 |
| Pennsylvania | $23,330 | $34,691 | $46,672 | 112 |
| Vermont | $23,748 | $48,795 | $66,183 | 8 |
| California | $25,172 | $29,750 | $44,934 | 116 |
| Connecticut | $26,452 | $30,206 | $50,535 | 26 |
| New Hampshire | $26,972 | $19,202 | $40,918 | 13 |
| Massachusetts | $27,290 | $46,874 | $64,020 | 65 |
| Rhode Island | $31,027 | $44,418 | $61,950 | 11 |
Housing can rival or exceed tuition across much of the public four-year sector. In this extract, on-campus room-and-board estimates exceeded in-state tuition and fees at 74.6% of public predominantly bachelor’s institutions reporting both measures (378 of 507). Weighted by undergraduate enrollment at those schools, the public share is 76.1%. The median public housing-to-tuition ratio is 1.19×.
That does not mean housing costs more than tuition for three-quarters of students, nor that tuition is no longer the largest national college expense. The analysis compares published or estimated cost components—not individual student bills—and the pattern is overwhelmingly public (1.3% of private nonprofits reporting both).
Hidden College Costs 2026 · August 28, 2026
Data: College Scorecard institutional file (Department of Education data release June 10, 2026)
© 2026 EDsmart. Cite with attribution.
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