In an article titled “How to Fix the Student Debt Crisis”, Steve Cohen shows just how much
the cost of college has exploded for students:
The price tag for attending college has risen 1,275 percent since 1978. That’s almost double the inflationary pace of health care, which rose a mere 634 percent in the same period.
He outlines 3 main reasons:
Colleges, including lots of state schools, continue to build luxury dorms, gourmet dining rooms, and lavish athletic centers to attract students—almost as if academics were an afterthought. Staffs have become bloated, too, not with more professors, but with administrators. Third, colleges have been playing with other people’s money. Washington has pumped trillions into financial aid programs. Low-income families get outright grants; everyone else qualifies for easy-to-obtain loans.
Hoosier Econ 
Nice article but I believe the cost of colleges have went up because of the governmentâs desire to keep people in debt. Look at the number of people in the 60âs and 70âs who went to college compared to the number who went straight into the work force. What happened to most people who went right into the work force?? They bought homes!! They got a loans were the interest rate controlled by the government, that were way higher then what anyone now a days could afford . Fast forward to the college boom if you want to call it that. Most graduates go to college and delay the process of buying a house. So the government had to supplement that âlostâ income so they start to offer government loan for education. That opened the door for educational institutions to raise the cost as money to pay for college became more accessible . Great read keep them coming.
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The other component is even simpler: they charge more because they can. They’re making up the difference in domestic enrollments by securing more international students whose parents almost don’t care what it costs. Those kids get no aid, so it’s a cash cow. Get one int’l kid at 40k or 2 domestics for the same cost AND they need aid from your coffers. Easy.
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