A front-page, above-the-fold article in Tuesday’s NY Times furnishes more confirmation of George Leef’s conclusions about the “overselling of higher education.” In fact, the Times article also suggests that American higher education, like U.S. health care today, is so heavily subsidized by state governments, Washington, and private endowments, that the normal market forces of supply and demand appear to be have been reversed. In short, many American colleges and universities — particularly small, private, liberal arts colleges — are intentionally raising tuition and fees in order to recruit more students. It’s working, according to the Times article:

Lucie Lapovsky, a consultant who was once president of Mercy College in New York, conducted a study asking students to choose between a college charging $20,000 and offering no aid, and one charging $30,000 and offering a $10,000 scholarship. Students chose the pricier option. “Americans seem to like college on sale,” Dr. Lapovsky said.

Most of the colleges that have raised their tuition in the last ten years have experienced a significant increase in applications. Apparently, many American students and parents still possess a reverential deference for the power of higher education, or at least for the attainment of a college degree.

The Times article notes that Notre Dame has raised its tuition and fees since 1999 by 27 percent, after inflation, and has increased its financial aid disbursements by an even higher 107 percent, in constant dollars. And higher tuition and fees also plays a role in these colleges’ efforts to increase their “economic diversity”:

Many administrators say that without raising prices, they could not maintain or expand economic diversity among the student body. In other words, making college more expensive for some enables less well off students to go.

The Times is supposed to have another installment in its higher education series in Wednesday’s issue.