Up, Up and Away

Dartmouth's 20-year tuition history—and whafs to come.

The announcement of a 4.8 percent increase in charges covering tuition, housing and fees by the Dartmouth board of trustees for 2006-07 brings the cost for an entering freshman to $43,341. As shown here in nominal—or current—dollars, costs have not only outpaced inflation, they have also climbed somewhat faster than median household income. Based on figures from the last two decades, during which College charges increased an average of 5.53 percent a year, 20 years from now a year at Dartmouth could hit $120,515. Using the 4.48 percent average by which charges have increased over the last 10 years, that amount would be only $99,662 by 2025.