In1982, the average cost of tuition at a public four-year institution was about $800, while the average cost of tuition at a four-year private institution for the same year was $4,639.
To put things into perspective, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in 1982 was $1.20. In December 2008, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $1.81, down from its July 2008 high of $4.05/gallon (when’s the last time college tuition actually decreased?).
Now guess who is frog-marched in front of Congress to answer “To the People” for their predatory pricing practices?
I’ll give you a hint – it’s not the president of Harvard.
4 comments:
GG,
And then there's this on the demise of classical education.
John S. -
VDH is one of my favorites; and, as usual is dead on....
Several of my friends in college were business majors, and as such were concerned primarily with satisfying their core requirements without consideration for writing or cognitive skills. And my fear then (in 1990) was that my college (in particular, my business school) became more of a vocational institution - churning out BS's without so much as a thought as to whether or not these students truly understood the world around them, or could even put their thoughts to paper. Even today, I'm struck by how few in my profession can demonstrate written communication skills.
That higher education costs have far outpaced the CPI, higher even than medical care has been mentioned only rarely in the MSM. But the last coverage of it was on Glenn Beck's show on CNN. Neither he nor his guest could come up with any real justification for the huge cost increase.
It's not like there's been an infusion of new and expensive advanced technologies into higher education (as is the case with medical care). Colleges have about the same type of equipment as a modern office, and the costs of that equipment has gone up very little or even become less expensive.
So, does ANYone have any idea why education costs have risen so much more than even medical care?
Anon,
Someone over at Captain Capitalism has provided a link to a CNN article that seeks to answer the question. I was going to say that part of the answer though, may lie along the demand curve.
I’m sure that if you check college enrollment statistics over the last 25 years, you’ll find a surge of folks entering college - undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees inclusive. However, there are only a finite number of “good” colleges and universities available so upward pressure on prices result.
Since there are no reliable metrics to measures of a “good” college or university, or the “quality” of their degree offerings, colleges use the quality label as a marketing tool to justify the high tuition rates.
Additionally, the influx of new enrollees over the years has forced the college and university system to become more competitive among themselves for your tuition dollars. Subsequently, many have opened new degree programs, including law and medical schools which require substantial investment (capital investment, faculty, etc.).
Believe me, this response is in no way a defense of the college and university system, but rather an attempt to examine objectively some of the factors that may account for the prices – ironically, some of the very same factors that the oil industry have put forth to explain rising gas prices.
GG
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