The Higher Education Price Index rose 3.6% in fiscal 2025, according to the Commonfund Institute’s HEPI release, extending a multi-year period of elevated cost pressures for colleges and universities. HEPI outpaced the Consumer Price Index (2.6% for the same period), underscoring that campus operating expenses—especially labor—are growing faster than general consumer inflation. The index showed administrative salaries up 4.8% and faculty pay rising 4.3%—the highest faculty increase since HEPI began tracking that category. Two-year public colleges experienced the biggest overall increases (4.6%) driven by an 8.7% jump in faculty salaries at those institutions. Higher operating costs are squeezing margins, prompting some institutions to cut programs or staff and contributing to negative outlooks from credit rating agencies for parts of the nonprofit higher-education sector.