The cost of higher education saw the smallest one-year increase from 2012-13 to the current academic year in more than 3½ decades, the College Board reported last week.
The published price of tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges rose just 2.9 percent, reaching an average of $8,893.
Still, grant aid from the government and higher education institutions is slowing, says a companion report, also released last week.
In still another report, the College Board said postsecondary enrollment dropped in 2011 for the first time in decades.