For many of us, the end of August means back-to-school time. So when better to discuss the staggering price of higher education? The cost of going to college in the U.S. has outpaced inflation every year for decades. While the overall consumer price index has risen 115% since 1985, the college education inflation rate has risen nearly 500%. [Forbes]
Among the myriad problems with this increase is one of great practical concern for American families: undergraduate debt has increased at the same time that real income has remained stagnant for all but the very top earners. [Bloomberg]
Many theories for increased education costs have been advanced, from generous tenure and sabbatical policies to increased labor and staff costs. And it’s difficult to argue that higher education does not provide any benefits at all. Economic analysis regularly shows that college graduates typically earn more than non-graduates over a lifetime. [WSJ] Indeed, a worker with a bachelor’s degree earns on average $1.19 million in cumulative earnings over an entire career, twice what the typical high school graduate earns. But these numbers vary greatly depending on college major. The median lifetime earnings for just about any engineering field are noticeably greater than earnings for majors in music, drama, and English. [Hamilton Project]
The real question is when education costs will experience a market correction. As reported earlier this year, higher education enrollment decreased 1.9% from a year ago, continuing the enrollment decline over the last four years. [NSC Research Center]
Which is interesting in theory, but like every other parent out there, I’m just waiting for the market correction to translate into lower tuition costs. After all, when Plato opened the Academy to men and women in 387 BC, they were welcome to study for free.
[Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics, J.L. Mey, ed.]
S.P. Slaughter
Follow me on Twitter: @SP_Slaughter
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