Although published tuition and fees increased for private institutions and public four-year colleges and universities, the average price students pay has actually decreased during the last five years, according to a report published Tuesday.

According to ‘Trends in College Pricing,’ written by College Board senior policy analyst Sandy Baum and consultant Jennifer Ma, the growth rate of tuition and fees at private institutions was lower between the 1999-00 and 2009-10 academic years than either of the previous two decades.

Meanwhile, fees for public four-year colleges and universities rose more rapidly during the same time span, reaching an annual rate of 4.9 percent beyond general inflation in the last decade.

Both public and private institutions saw an overall increase, with private schools increasing tuition rates by 15 percent in the past five years and public schools’ price rising by 20 percent.

Though published tuition and fees rose, the average amount students pay after grant aid and federal tax benefits is about $1,100 lower in the private sector and $400 lower in the public sector than it was five years ago after adjustment for inflation, the report stated.

Full-time students at private universities receive an average of about $14,400 in grant aid from all sources and federal tax benefits, reducing the average price they pay to about $11,900, according to the report.

Public four-year students, on the other hand, get about $5,400 in aid reducing their average net price to about $1,600, the report stated.

Meanwhile, average family income in both the middle 20 percent and wealthiest 5 percent of families has increased between 1978 and 2008, by 15 percent and 78 percent respectively.

While the poorest 20 percent of families saw an income decline of 3 percent between 1978 and 2008, grant aid covered all tuition and fees for them at public two-year colleges from 1992-93 to 2007-08 and at public four-year institutions from 1999-2000 through 2007-08.

Differences in tuition prices are also regional, according to the report.

‘In 2009-10, the New England region has the highest average public four-year prices and the South has the lowest,’ the report states.

Despite the smaller growth in tuition rates, private institutions increased faculty salaries by a higher percent than public schools.

Between the 1991-92 and 2007-08 academic years, average salaries at private schools increased by 11 percent compared to an increase of 4 percent at public institutions.