Why has college tuition been rising so high and fast? Will college costs ever drop back to more affordable levels? According to a report issued by the Delta Cost Project, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.:
- The main reason tuition has been rising faster than college costs is that colleges had to make up for reductions in the per-student subsidy state taxpayers sent colleges.
- Big private universities, powered by tuition and endowment increases, have increased spending dramatically while public schools have languished.
- Public universities have been reining in overall spending per student in recent years.
- Increases in spending were driven mostly by higher administration, maintenance, and student services costs.
More about the Delta Projects report featured in U.S. News and World Report(opens in new tab).
For a look at rising tuition costs in Washington State, check out EOI’s latest report: Losing By Degrees(opens in new tab), or read the blogged excerpts: part 1 here(opens in new tab), part 2 here(opens in new tab), part 3 here(opens in new tab), part 4 here(opens in new tab), part 5 here(opens in new tab).