College Not as Expensive as People Think

It’s back-to-school season, and, if one listens to the media, families are paying more than ever to send students back to their college campuses. U.S. News & World Report announced last September that the nominal cost of a college education had risen by well over 100 percent over the last two decades. Even adjusted for inflation, tuition and fees have risen by anywhere from 32 percent to 45 percent, depending on whether one attends a public or private university. But such figures are misleading by design.

In 2023, Dan Currell observed in National Affairs that, “in the late 1980s and early 1990s, colleges discovered that the appearance of high tuition was good for marketing.” How so? “Positioning one’s school as ‘almost as expensive as Harvard’ created a sense of exclusivity, and, somewhat contrary to economic theory, resulted in increased applications.” Yet a typical university could not charge as much as Harvard without making itself financially inaccessible.

About the Author

John R. Puri

John R. Puri is the Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow at National Review.

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It’s back-to-school season, and, if one listens to the media, families are paying more than ever to send students back to their college campuses. U.S. News & World Report announced last September that the nominal cost of a college education had risen by well over 100 percent over the last two decades. Even adjusted for inflation, tuition and fees have risen by anywhere from 32 percent to 45 percent, depending on whether one attends a public or private university. But such figures are misleading by design.

In 2023, Dan Currell observed in National Affairs that, “in the late 1980s and early 1990s, colleges discovered that the appearance of high tuition was good for marketing.” How so? “Positioning one’s school as ‘almost as expensive as Harvard’ created a sense of exclusivity, and, somewhat contrary to economic theory, resulted in increased applications.” Yet a typical university could not charge as much as Harvard without making itself financially inaccessible.