Dive Summary:
- Bloomberg's Chart of the Day illustrates a staggering 538% jump in higher education costs since 1985, dwarfing increases in the cost of medical care, shelter and gasoline over the same time period.
- Institute for Higher Education Policy President Michelle Cooper says the astronomical increases serve to increase economic inequality by making it harder for those from lower-income backgrounds to advance via a college education, and that the high price could also prove harmful to U.S. higher ed's "prestige and status."
From the article:
... President Barack Obama last week proposed that federal financial aid be tied to a new government ranking of college costs and outcomes in order to curb the surge in tuition.
Congressional authorizing committees, led by Republicans in the House and Democrats in the Senate, are preparing to draft the next version of the Higher Education Act, which expires at the end of this year. The legislative committees held hearings on college affordability in April. ...