St. Pete Standard

College tuition fees rose 4.1% in Pinellas County in the 2022-23 school year, according to the latest disclosure from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Data shows that students paid $11,653 on average to attend higher education courses at the time, $458 more than the previous school year.

Among the 12 institutions in the county, Eckerd College stood out with the highest tuition fees, reaching an average of $48,900. National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay followed with an average of $38,600 per year. St Petersburg College students were offered the lowest annual tuition fees at $2,815.

At the time, a total of $81 million in grants or scholarships were awarded to full-time undergraduates who started at the Pinellas County universities in the 2022-23 school year. Additionally, federal student loans reached $32.1 million.

Currently there are 12 higher education institutions in Pinellas County, including American Institute of Beauty, Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater, and Loraines Academy & Spa.

Undergraduate education costs have seen a significant increase over the past few decades. Data shows a 169% rise in the average total cost, including tuition, fees, room, and board, between 1980 and 2020.

According to a 2023 College Board report, in-state students at public universities paid an average of $11,260, while out-of-state students paid $29,150 in the 2023-24 academic year.

Meanwhile, student loan debt has steadily increased over the last 30 years, reaching $1.75 trillion in 2024, averaging a total of $28,950 per borrower. Federal loans make up 92% of the debt, with over half of students at both public and private four-year colleges graduating with student loans.

Available data sometimes exceeds 100% due to rounding and administrative calculations.

Institution	Number of Students Receiving Grants	Total Amount of Grants Received	Average Amount of Grant Per Student	Number of Students Receiving Loans	Total Amount of Loans Received	Average Amount of Loans Per Student
Eckerd College	539	$14,422,032	$26,757	289	$3,170,442	$10,970
Center for Neurosomatic Studies	5	$28,688	$5,738	5	$27,407	$5,481
St Petersburg College	1,045	$10,659,767	$10,201	240	$1,328,450	$5,535
Schiller International University	5	$17,955	$3,591	0	$0	$0
Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater	149	$647,607	$4,346	0	$0	$0
Pinellas Technical College-St. Petersburg	186	$732,350	$3,937	0	$0	$0
Cortiva Institute	35	$130,129	$3,718	33	$176,252	$5,341
Ultimate Medical Academy	8,188	$51,592,692	$6,301	7,761	$22,422,030	$2,889
Galen College of Nursing-Tampa Bay	101	$713,914	$7,068	109	$1,168,647	$10,722
American Institute of Beauty	87	$568,085	$6,530	90	$611,166	$6,791
National Aviation Academy of Tampa Bay	203	$1,356,802	$6,684	247	$3,079,432	$12,467
Loraines Academy & Spa	32	$116,309	$3,635	31	$138,399	$4,464