Why Is College So Expensive?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, everyone knows that the price of education is rising faster then anything else in the economy other than health care.  Double digit increases in just a few years is forcing people to consider alternatives to higher education.  According to government studies, the cost of higher education forces 400,000 high school graduates from considering college after high school graduation. 

The reason why tuition is on the rise is very obscure.  Many experts attribute it to the rising cost of keeping up the prestige of an institution.  New fitness centers, new dormitories, T1 access, new computers, sport facilities, research, highly accredited professors are all to blame for rising tuition.  Colleges are spending millions of dollars just to appear to be more competitive.  The perception of exclusivity is a driving force for universities.  They are all fighting to be ranked higher on US News's Annual review of America's best colleges and universities.  No one can prove that spending more money on tuition increases the quality of higher education. We all foster the notion that the tougher it is to get into a college, the better it must be.  That competitive notion is driving up the cost of college tuition all over the world.

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In order to appear more competitive, colleges give out full scholarships to national merit students in the hopes of increasing their SAT admission scores.  To get the best students, you must have world class facilities, such as an honor's program, or dormitories that look like hotels, or maybe an Olympic size pool.  Why should other students help pay for the tuition of merit students, in order to raise the prestige of a school? 

Americans have longed believed that higher education translates into immediate entry into the middle class.  As a result, we pay an enormous amount of money to send our children to the best schools in the best neighborhoods.  Which indirectly is causing huge price increases in real estate in the most sought after public school districts. 

No one has stopped to ask whether colleges should be held accountable for the quality of the education that they provide, especially to justify double digit increases in tuition.  The question of accountability is being asked of teachers K-12, but maybe its time colleges need to answer exactly why a four year undergraduate degree should cost $100,000.