As the 2025 college application cycle winds down to a close, the major question for seniors and their families is shifting. Instead of wondering which colleges they will be accepted to, many are instead concerned with what their financial aid packages will look like and how their families will pay for college.
It would be an understatement to say that college in the United States is expensive; 70% of students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree are in debt by the time they graduate, according to the Urban Institute. But what does “expensive” really mean? Using data from Naviance, college websites and the US Census Bureau, it’s possible to quantify how expensive college is for the average WJ family.
Not all colleges are created equal
Costs depend on whether the institution is considered in-state, out-of-state or private. Public universities in Maryland are considered “in-state” schools and offer Maryland residents discounted tuition. Public universities outside of Maryland and most private universities require students to pay a higher tuition.
For the colleges most attended by WJ students over the last five years, the difference between in-state and out-of-state/private tuition is enormous. The average yearly cost of attendance — which includes tuition, on-campus housing and other fees — of the five most attended in-state universities is approximately $29,200. The average for the five most attended out-of-state/private universities is more than double at $70,400.
American University and George Washington University, both Washington D.C. private institutions, are the most expensive of the top ten colleges most attended by WJ students over the last five years. With yearly costs of $79,622 and $89,205 respectively, these schools represent a trend in private schools costing significantly more than their public counterparts.
“Of the colleges I applied to, I made sure they were all public schools or private schools that are known to give a lot of merit aid,” senior Ava Poston said.
On the other end of the spectrum is Montgomery College, the most attended college by WJ students, which is the cheapest and requires payment based on the amount of credit hours taken instead of a flat tuition rate. To finish with an Associate’s degree in two years, a student must take at least 15 credit hours or five classes a semester at Montgomery College, costing $5,394 per year. Combining tuition with other fees makes the cost of attending approximately $25,086, which is $10,000 cheaper than the other in-state universities most attended by WJ students. The price could be even cheaper if students take less credit hours per semester.
These major differences in cost depending on the type and location of the institution is a major factor in students’ college decisions.
“I applied to mostly public schools because most private schools, especially the ones in the city, are upwards of 80k,” senior Mane Torossian said. “That seems a little unreasonable for every single year and many of them don’t really give many scholarships.”
In order to evaluate how affordable these costs are, it’s important to take into consideration the financial context of the average WJ family.
Not all communities are created equal
The WJ cluster encompasses seven zip codes, and using 2023 data from the US Census Bureau, it’s possible to find the median household income of each zip code. The average median household income for the zip codes in the WJ cluster comes out to be $175,374.
This number seems massive when compared to Montgomery County, Maryland and National numbers. The average median household income of the WJ cluster is approximately $50,000 greater than the Montgomery county median, $75,000 greater than the Maryland median and almost $100,000 greater than the national median.
“We live in Montgomery County, one of the most expensive sectors of this country,” senior Nico Kane said. “The income disparity doesn’t surprise me at all.”
The average cost of attendance for the in-state institutions most attended by WJ students is approximately 16% of the median household income of the WJ cluster, while the cost of attendance for the out-of-state/private institutions is about 40%. These percentages change to about 36% and 87% when considering the national median household income instead.
Despite the fact that college costs are enormous across the entire country, it seems that WJ families are more equipped and financially able to meet these costs than the typical American family. Aware of this, colleges attempt to mend the income disparity through financial aid packages.
“People at our school tend to not receive that much financial aid compared to other schools,” Torossian said. “I’ll see videos of people from other schools receiving really enormous financial packages that cover most of tuition, but a lot of the people I talk to at WJ have noticed that if you are middle class or above, they’re not going to give you that much.”
While the average household income of the WJ cluster is high, there’s still great variability between the average income of different zip codes. Zip codes within the cluster have median household incomes as low as $113,951 and as high as $250,000+.
“For a lot of people [in the WJ cluster] it would be easier [to pay for college], but for a lot it might be just as hard because the area of WJ is more diverse compared to other nearby schools,” Kane said. “I wouldn’t say financial cost is out of the worry for anyone.”
