Costs at U.S. colleges and universities rose 5.2 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2022, up sharply from 2.7 percent in FY2021 and the highest rate since FY2001, an annual report from the Commonfund Institute finds.

Calculated every year since 1983, the Commonfund Higher Education Price Index is based on eight cost components: faculty salaries, administrative salaries, clerical costs, service employee costs, fringe benefits, miscellaneous services, supplies and materials, and utilities. According to the FY2021 index, costs rose year-over-year in all eight categories, with the most significant increases in utilities (43.1 percent) and supplies and materials (21.5 percent), followed by service employee costs (8.6 percent), clerical costs (5.2 percent), miscellaneous services (4.3 percent), administrative salaries (2.9 percent), fringe benefits (2.6 percent), and faculty salaries (2.1 percent). Fringe benefits was the only category in which the rate of increase slowed compared with FY2021, when it increased 4.1 percent.

In the four most heavily weighted categories, administrative salaries and clerical costs rose at a higher rate than their historical five-year averages (2.9 percent vs. 2.1 percent and 5.2 percent vs 3.5 percent), while faculty salaries rose at the same rate (2.1 percent) and fringe benefits rose at a lower rate (2.6 percent vs. 3.2 percent). The largest deviation from five-year averages were in utilities (43.1 percent vs. 9 percent)—which historically has been the most volatile component in the index—and supplies and materials (21.5 percent vs. 6 percent).

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