Charging U
Why is college so expensive? Charging U explores the causes of high college tuition. If you want to know where all your money is going and why college costs so much more now than it did in the past, join host Larry Bernstein as he looks at how individual pricing, government policy, rankings, endowments, loans, luxurious amenities, administrative bloat, athletics, research, and other factors affect the price we pay for college.
Episodes
The underlying cause of the high cost of college is an inability to objectively demonstrate quality or the value added by a college. Currently, college rankings are determined by the amount of money they have and spend. Those with more prestige are able to charge higher tuition. Higher education institutions need to be incentivized to adopt a system which measures the knowledge and abilities of students and make thos...
The high cost of college prevents many from attending or causes others to go into debt at an early age and delay life plans.
Why does college cost so much?
Because there is no objective measure of quality, prestige is determined by how much money a college has and spends.
Individual pricing by private colleges allows them to charge each student the most that student and family are willing...
Purdue University has frozen tuition for the last 13 years while improving its reputation. This has saved students $6,000 per year, reduced the amount of debt, and improved graduation rates. How did it do it and why don’t other universities do the same?
Theme music: Sunshine by lemonmusicstudio via Pixabay
The priorities of boards of trustees, administrators , and faculty are often different from those of the students. Those students are paying into a system which directs funds into activities that do not align with their interests. They do not have the ability to opt out of services they do not wish to receive and those looking to enter or remain in the middle class do not have the option to forgo getting a college degre...
Wealth inequality among universities enables the rich to get richer. The design of college endowments limits the extent to which they can be used to reduce tuition for everyone.
Theme music credit: Sunshine by lemonmusicstudio via Pixabay
Climbing walls and lazy river pools are conspicuous and attract much attention but add relatively little to the cost of attendance. On the other hand, colleges have been raising the prices they charge for housing at a rate much higher than inflation. The building boom on campuses has expanded space greater than the increase in student enrollment and has been very expensive.
Theme music credit: Sunshine by l...
Federal regulations and reporting requirements of colleges have grown in recent years forcing them to hire non-instructional staff to comply. But this only accounts for a small part of the amount spent on administration.
Colleges have expanded their scope beyond the core missions of education and research. They are now more involved in the oversight of student life and health. They are providing more social sup...
Institutional support of sponsored research has grown at twice the rate of inflation for over 60 years and is an overlooked cause of high tuition. The annual expense of unsponsored research is many thousands of dollars per student and may be an even larger contributor to rising costs.
This National Science Foundation website https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site can be used to look up information regarding f...
Service fields such as higher education do not experience large improvements in efficiency so the cost of providing that service rises.
The salaries of professors may contribute a minor amount to the rising cost of college; however, reduced teaching loads and other perks are more important factors which cause the price of tuition to go up.
All intercollegiate athletic programs lose money, except for a few at universities with successful football programs Students are charged up to several thousand dollars per year to make up the deficit. Compliance with Title IX also adds to the cost.
Websites mentioned in this episode:
Office of Postsecondary Education website under Equity In Athletics:
https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/s...
Influential rankings are based on the wealth of an institution, not how much students learn. This incentivizes colleges to maximize income in order to remain competitive.
Theme music credit: Sunshine by lemonstudiomusic via Pixabay
Government grants, easy access to subsidized loans, and tax breaks have made more money available to students, but somehow, students are even more overwhelmed with the burden of paying for college.
Theme music credit: Sunshine by lemonmusicstudio via Pixabay
Once upon a time, Americans had access to affordable higher education and could pay for it by working while in college. This promoted social mobility. Over the last few decades, costs have risen dramatically causing current students to drown in student debt, alter life decisions, or forgo college altogether.
In this episode, we introduce the problem of the skyrocketing cost of attending college. We cover:
- ...
In this episode, we discuss:
- Individual pricing, the most important factor contributing to the rise of tuition sticker price at private colleges and universities.
- The effect of economic surplus, market segmentation, and enrollment management in setting a price to extract the maximum amount of current and future wealth from a student and family.
- How the relative increase in wealth of the top 5-10% both here and abroad ...
In this episode, we examine public colleges and universities and discuss:
- The high variability in higher education funding between states.
- How state appropriations dropped during the decade of the 2000s causing public colleges to make up for the shortfall by raising tuition.
- How the decrease in state appropriations explains only a part of the reason tuition was increased.
Theme music credit: Sunshine by lemonm...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.