What You'll Pay for an Online Bachelor's Degree

An online bachelor's degree offers students many benefits – convenience, the ability to maintain a full-time job outside of school, flexible hours and a unique learning environment – but is cost one of them?

The average online bachelor's degree ranges from $38,496 to $60,593 in total program tuition cost, according to U.S. News data of ranked Best Online Bachelor's Programs. Tuition at public online bachelor's degrees for in-state students costs on average $38,496, and $54,183 for out-of-state students. At private colleges, the average tuition is $60,593.

Students should consider some critical points when comparing costs of online colleges, like the student's location in relation to the institution, the availability of financial aid and how online tuition compares with on-campus costs.

Because there is so much variety among online colleges and some programs are very new, experts give a word of warning about pricing.

"Students should really be cautious about how tuition and fees are structured," says Lynette M. O'Keefe, director of the Online Learning Consortium's Research Center for Digital Learning and Leadership. "Are they paying by the credit hour, by the course, are they paying for the whole semester at a time, a flat rate? These are all different ways colleges charge for their courses. Sometimes when you see a by-the-program 'sticker price,' that can be a sign that that institution might not be as legitimate as they present themselves to be, though that's not a blanket statement by any means."

Online Bachelor's Degree vs. On-Campus Bachelor's Degree

For students returning to college or beginning a program as older students, particularly those with dependent children, an online bachelor's degree may open up the possibility of a college education that wouldn't exist if on-campus attendance was required.

But beyond those situational needs, students should consider the cost comparison of attending college on campus versus online. Doing such calculations can be challenging and the numbers can depend on a student's specific situation.

"It varies so widely depending on what type of institution a student attends, how much, if any, credit they're coming in with, how many hours a degree program is," O'Keefe says. "The best thing (students) can do is look up universities in the same area, both face-to-face and online, and see what's being charged and consider the degree program length and number of hours they need when adding those costs up."

In some cases, it may be more expensive to earn a bachelor's degree online.

Among the 170 ranked public colleges that reported this information, the average tuition price of an online bachelor's degree for in-state, in-district students is $316 per credit for the 2019-2020 academic year. The tuition price for in-state students studying on campus is an average of $311 per credit, among the 93 ranked colleges that provided this information.

However, the average per credit price for online programs at the 168 private colleges that reported this information is $488 – lower than the average tuition price for on-campus programs at ranked private colleges, which is $1,240 among the 113 colleges that reported this information.

Whether an online program or an on-campus program is more expensive can vary and is program-specific.

At Simpson College in Iowa, for example, per-credit tuition for an on-campus bachelor's degree at the private institution is $397 in 2019-2020 and per-credit tuition for an online bachelor's degree is $416, according to U.S. News data. Some public institutions also charge more for online tuition than for on-campus tuition; for instance, Oregon State University charges $212 per credit for its on-campus in-state tuition and $309 per credit for online in-state tuition.

The range of tuition prices is wide among online bachelor's programs. The most expensive online tuition for a bachelor's program for the 2019-2020 academic year is $1,034 per credit at the Rochester Institute of Technology, a private school in New York, while the least expensive online tuition price is $53 per credit for in-state students at the University of North Carolina—Pembroke, based on the ranked colleges that reported this information to U.S. News.

On-campus college programs often have many costs associated with them that aren't reflected in the published tuition and fees prices, like textbooks, meal plans and other costs of living on campus. Online programs may involve certain technology expenses, but online students typically don't have to pay some of the same expenses as on-campus students, such as recreational fees.

"Most commonly in online programs, you do not have health insurance available to you, hence you don't have to pay a health services fee," says Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois—Springfield. "On balance, it's less expensive per credit hour to take it online than on campus."

Online Bachelor's Degrees Are More Expensive at Private Schools

The most expensive online bachelor's degrees are typically at private schools followed by out-of-state tuition at public schools, with in-state tuition at public schools being the least expensive, according to U.S. News data.

The average price for in-state, in-district tuition at a public institution for an online bachelor's degree is $316 per credit. Tuition prices go up significantly at private online colleges, an average of $495 per credit.

Online Tuition Varies By Location

Unlike on-campus bachelor's programs, many online bachelor's programs charge varying tuition amounts depending upon distance from campus, even for in-state students studying through a public online program.

Some programs charge different rates to in-state students who live beyond a certain perimeter, referred to as out of district.

Some public institutions offer all students enrolled in online programs in-state tuition, Schroeder notes, an advantage to students interested in a college out of state.

Financial Aid for Online College

The availability of financial aid at a given program or institution could play a big role in the affordability of online programs. Some online bachelor's degree programs offer no institutional financial aid.

"It's an artifact of these being relatively new – in academic terms 20 years is new," Schroeder says.

Many colleges have been adding institutional aid in recent years, even creating scholarships specifically for online students, he acknowledges. "With time that will continue to grow. The federal financial aid is largely the same, and costs can be lower because you're not paying for housing on campus."

Students can still apply for federal financial aid if they're enrolled in most online bachelor's programs. But when comparing programs, students should ask whether both federal and institutional aid are available.

Online programs and their costs and aid options are evolving. At Pennsylvania State University, there is increasingly less differentiation between online and on-campus programs.

"Every learner is unique, has their own particular learning context, and part of that is financial. As we move forward, all of these learners will be part of one spectrum rather than being processed and treated as differently," says Nicholas P. Jones, Penn State's executive vice president and provost. "If learners who happen to be predominantly taking advantage of online delivery have particular financial need, we will be looking to be responsive to them."

Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.