How have changes in the price of enrolling full time at public 2- and 4-year colleges affected student decisions about whether and where to enroll in college? Using local differences in the growth of tuition at community colleges and public 4-year colleges, we study the impact of public higher education tuition prices on the post-secondary…

Determinants of tuition prices in major state universities are identified in this study. Twenty-two variables accounted for 89 percent of the variation in 1976-77 tuition levels. Primary determinants were related to competition--tuition prices at institutions within the state or region--and to shortfalls in institutional income. (Author/LBH)

Questions about how student financial aid and the costs of attending college influence educational opportunity for diverse racial groups have lurked beneath the surface of the policy debates about higher education for decades. When the Higher Education Act (HEA) was passed in 1965, there was a general acceptance that the federal government had a…