College Tuition Growth Rate Is Biggest Bubble of Them All

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Robvsa60 of DC 8:58PM April 25, 2013

Thank you for helping out students with figuring out college, it's a big part of our lives. The fact that college is so expensive is frustrating. The U.S. does not value college like many other countries and for that it's super expensive. Your numbers speak for it's self about the cost of college. Thank you.
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Joey G of MN 1:09PM April 12, 2013

There's more going on then just skyrocketing tuition prices. Everyone is shocked because they're looking at tuition prices, but that's like looking at car sticker prices. It's not what matters. If you look at after the prices students actually pay after scholarships, and grants you'll notice that the price increased a lot but funds going to financial aid increased a lot as well. In fact, tuition growth is a positive thing if it goes up at the same rate as financial aid so that the price for poorer kids is subsidized by the price of richer kids.
Also, I find it hilarious that US News is criticizing colleges for rising costs. US News is a major driving force for the rising costs by encouraging schools to compete. It's metric rewards schools for higher per student expenditures (punishing spendthrift schools) and raising tuition to pay for more merit scholarships (that even tend to go to wealthier families). There is something very concrete USNews can do if they want to stop rising college costs. Adjust their metrics to reward colleges for lower debt per graduate, not expenditures per student.

Josh of HI 9:36PM September 16, 2012

There is a strange dynamic going on here with college tuition. Many years ago, people used to work their way through college with a part-time/summer job. Then government became concerned about the cost of higher education and came up with 529 and Coverdell ESA plans, and now it's student loans.
This may be oversimplifying a bit, but when colleges saw all that Coverdell/529 money being saved up by parents, they got greedy and jacked up tuition. Then some of the bankruptcy rules tightened up a bit, and the government put even more "easy" money for college on the table in the form of student loans that cannot be discharged. Colleges got greedy and kept right on raising their tuition. Sure, states cut back their funding for public schools a bit, but I am still left at a loss as to where all the money from rising tuition and rising enrollment is disappearing to and why colleges can't make do with less like other institutions and businesses that have had to cut costs in the deepest recession since the 1930s.
Somehow I believe that these student loans are where all that QE money is finally finding its way into the economy, and this is actually inflation sneaking up on us, (along with rising healthcare costs, the rising price of gas, etc.) And it's tough luck for everybody going to school, because a bachelor's degree is the new high school diploma now.

J of WA 12:59AM June 02, 2012

Please look at this documentary explaining why we are in so much debt with college tuition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZtX32sKVE&feature=pyv&ad=6739540474&kw=learn

G of CA 11:55PM January 15, 2012

College tuition is skyrocketing because of student loans. Those are a subsidy, and like any other they boost the supply of money, while supply and real demand remains the same, so that prices go through the roof.
Here is an article about how student loans cause tuition to rise:
http://butnowyouknow.net/2011/11/11/how-student-loans-increase-your-tuition/

Kaz Vorpal of IL 12:14PM November 21, 2011

Interesting article, but not the whole story. It does not talk about the real issue: sky high, and getting higher, university tuition, even for in-state students, while other western countries have much cheaper excellent education.
Plus, the 15+% of students with loans are now defaulting, putting their entire future in jeopardy, as Uncle Sam will confiscate their paychecks and Social Security, among other things, thanks to recent changes in bankruptcy laws. If you want a fuller picture, and a discussion of potential short and long-term fixes, read my blog article: "Defaults on college & university student loans: The next US economic bubble to burst?" http://wp.me/p1Ph5u-ah
Oh, and a carte blanche forgiveness of all student loans ($1 trillion of them), as promoted by some, is likely not fiscally sound, as 80+% of loans are not in default.

Jonathan Blaine of GA 7:27PM September 29, 2011

If any of you guys are struggling with student loan debt or need a place to vent out your frustrations we have a pretty sweet group set up on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/forgivestudentloandebt/
I ask that you please join our group of mostly college graduates as we educate and create awareness about bills currently being circulated in Congress regarding tackling student loan debt and other related issues. Your voices deserve to be heard!

JP Cruz of FL 10:59AM September 28, 2011