Drivers of Community College Costs and Prices

The rising price of a year in college looms large on the American political landscape. Calls to make college free, or at least debt free, will figure prominently in policy and political debates going forward. To make sense of this debate, an understanding of the forces that have been driving the price of a year in postsecondary education upward over time is needed. A set of common forces is at work driving the underlying costs of operation upward more rapidly than overall inflation in all sectors of the U.S. higher education system. Public institutions also have had to adjust to substantial cuts in the real value of state subsidies per student. This has put upward pressure on tuition and fees and downward pressure on the quality of the service provided. This article explores the factors that have affected tuition at the nation's 4-year colleges and universities.