Sort by

Explore More

Thanks to rapidly rising tuition costs, America has a $1.2 trillion student debt problem.
In the media
Aimee Picchi
[...] According to The New York Times' Paul F. Campos, tuition rates are more the victim of "the constant expansion of university administration" than state-funded budget cuts.
In the media
JJ Feinauer
While income is distributed unequally in the country, what few people know is how much more unequally wealth, financial assets and inheritances are distributed.
In the media
Sean McElwee
The skyrocketing price of college tuition at previously affordable state colleges and universities is a longstanding source of concern, especially for people graduating with mountains of student debt. People have many theories as to why this is happening: administrative bloat, too-high salaries for
In the media
Ryan Cooper
As the 2016 campaign begins to take shape, there have been strong signals that debt-free higher education is going to be a central policy flash point.
Blog
Mark Huelsman
As the glow of finally deciding on a college begins to wear off, many students and families must wrestle with how they’re going to pay for school.
In the media
Jillian Berman

Popular theories for rising tuition like administrative “bloat” and student aid are at most minor contributors to tuition increases. Here's the real causes.

Research
Robert Hiltonsmith
Public university students today pay $3,000 more in annual tuition than their counterparts a decade ago. Why that is depends on whom you ask. Some pundits like to blame administrative bloat or the construction boom. Within higher education, many cite the decline in state support.
In the media
Kellie Woodhouse
[...] “[P]ublic higher education in this country no longer exists,” writes Hiltonsmith. “Because more than half of core educational expenses at ‘public’ 4-year universities are now funded through tuition, a private source of capital, they have effectively become subsidized private institutions.”
In the media
Emily Deruy
New Demos Report Shows State Disinvestment in Public Higher Education is Driving Tuition Increases Decreased State Funding is Responsible for Nearly 80 Percent of the Rise in Public Education Tuition Recently, there has been much debate about the real cause of tuition increases, which have risen by
Press release/statement