The recent economic recession threatened all traditional revenue sources possessed by colleges and universities. Resultant tuition increases have led stakeholders to demand greater accountability and fostered increased focus upon strategic financing from administrators. This dissertation examines the economic and political trends that have placed…

While research has consistently found strong positive earnings returns to the bachelor's degree, recent evidence also highlights heterogeneity in post-college outcomes. Combined with increases in the proportions of students borrowing to enroll, heterogeneity in college outcomes introduces the risk that some students with college degrees may…

Both the published tuition and fee prices of colleges and universities and the net prices students pay after subtracting grant aid and tax credits and deductions continued to rise between 2016-17 and 2017-18, even after adjusting for inflation. Average net prices in 2017-18 remain lower at public two-year and private nonprofit four-year…

This report examines college and university finances during one of the most turbulent economic periods in decades. The financial ramifications of the 2008 recession were vast, affecting students' ability to pay for college, lawmakers' prioritization of public resources, and the budgetary environment facing higher education leaders. The challenges…

In 2016-17, published tuition and fee prices rose slightly less than the year before. The rapid price growth observed during the Great Recession has abated, as typically happens when the economy recovers, but the rate of increase in tuition and fees continues to exceed inflation. More notable, however, is the pattern of the net prices students…

The increases in tuition and fee prices in 2015-16 were, like the increases in the two preceding years, relatively small by historical standards. However, the very low rate of general inflation makes this year's increases in college prices larger in real terms than those of 2014-15 and 2013-14. Significantly, and perhaps counter to public…

This is one in a series of data briefs developed by the Delta Cost Project at AIR using data from the "IPEDS Analytics: Delta Cost Project Database 1987-2010," which was released on August 14, 2012, by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. The intent of these briefs is to update key tables and…

Between 2013-14 and 2014-15, average published tuition and fee prices increased by 2.9% for in-state students in the public four-year sector, by 3.3% for out-of-state students in the public four-year sector and for in-district students at public two-year colleges, and by 3.7% at private nonprofit four-year institutions. These increases are higher…

"Trends in College Spending: Where Does the Money Come from? Where Does It Go?", the second study from the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, examines revenue and expenditure data for nearly 2,000 public and private non-profit colleges and universities (representing more than 75 percent of higher education…

The published prices on which the analysis in "Trends in College Pricing" is based come from data reported by institutions on the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges. This survey, which is distributed to nearly 4,000 postsecondary institutions across the country, collects a wealth of data on enrollment, admission, degrees and…

"Trends in College Spending, 1999-2009: Where does the money come from? Where does it go? What does it buy?" is the fourth in a series of reports on college and university spending from the Delta Cost Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability. The mission of the Delta Cost Project is to improve public…

Widespread concern about the high and rising price of college makes timely data on tuition increases in historical context particularly important. The increase in average published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities for the 2012-13 academic year is smaller than it has been in recent years--and below the average growth…

This Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Report uses data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:96, NPSAS:2000 and NPSAS:04) to examine trends in Stafford loan borrowing among undergraduates. NPSAS consists of nationally representative survey data that focus on student financial aid and the enrollment and background…

How do colleges and universities spend their money? To most, it's a black box. The public looks at tuitions, states look at appropriations, trustees look at the endowment, and department managers look at their budgets. How colleges actually spend their money is barely understood by the general public and even many policy makers. In the current…

Examined the relationships among college prices, expenditures, and revenues within the public and private not-for-profit sectors. The trend analysis and model results found differences in the nature and strength of relationships between costs and prices across types of institutions and within types of institutions over time. (EV)