--- title: Is Your State One of the 23 Where Pre-K Costs More Than College? description: Preschool costs significantly more than college in many states. See where yours stacks up. authors: - name: Ethan Wolff-Mann url: https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 160 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/ewolffmann former_staff: true published: '2016-04-11T18:14:48.000Z' modified: '2016-04-11T18:14:48.000Z' section: Education tags: - childcare - pubdesk word_count: 253 canonical: https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Prek child care](https://img.money.com/2016/04/gettyimages-567367901.jpg) The high price of college tuition has been one of the core issues in mainstream politics this election, but the other end of the education spectrum is equally pricey. In fact, preschool costs more than college in half the states. A [recent study](http://www.epi.org/publication/its-time-for-an-ambitious-national-investment-in-americas-children/) from the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank created to give low-income a voice in policy, examined the costs of childcare versus college and found that the in-state public college tuition in 23 states was lower than the cost of full time childcare for a 4-year-old. Some areas, like [Massachusetts](http://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/#/MA) and [Washington, D.C.](http://www.epi.org/child-care-costs-in-the-united-states/#/MA) see average childcare costs for a 4-year-old at $12,781 and $17,842, respectively. This is more expensive than in-state college tuition, which is $10,702 and $7,255 for the two states. It's almost the same price as rent. The study posits a solution to these extreme costs, capping early childhood eduction expenses at 10% of income. Doing so would reduce childcare costs in 40 states and the additional tax revenue from increased participation in the workforce by parents who would otherwise have to babysit themselves would result in a $70 billion influx, which the study says would significantly offset the subsidization. The [benefits of early childhood education](http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTCY/EXTECD/0,,contentMDK:20259127~menuPK:527099~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:344939,00.html) are clearly valuable; studies show higher intelligence, better school enrollment, behavior, health, and pretty much everything that we value in society. The U.S. also [lags considerably](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2013/05/02/62054/the-united-states-is-far-behind-other-countries-on-pre-k/) in providing access, which is free in many countries, [like Finland](http://www.npr.org/2014/03/08/287255411/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-finland-where-school-starts-at-age-7). If you're curious how your state stacks up, check out the EPI's handy tool below. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Preparing for College", "item": "https://money.com/preparing-for-college/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Is Your State One of the 23 Where Pre-K Costs More Than College?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/", "name": "Is Your State One of the 23 Where Pre-K Costs More Than College?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-04-11T18:14:48.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/pre-k-costs-more-than-college-in-23-states/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2016-04-11T18:14:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Is Your State One of the 23 Where Pre-K Costs More Than College?", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/04/gettyimages-567367901.jpg", "width": 3464, "height": 2309, "caption": "Prek child care" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ethan Wolff-Mann", "url": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/ewolffmann" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-04-11T18:14:48.000Z", "description": "Preschool costs significantly more than college in many states. 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