As any parent with a college-bound child knows, college tuitions are rising much faster than inflation. One way to control costs is to make parents better consumers by giving them better price and outcome information. But the true cost of a college education is hard to calculate because of complex and opaque pricing structures. Today, colleges are spending more on administrators than on faculty or students and using dubious practices to get more revenue from students. Have we reached a tipping point? Key points in this "Outlook" include: (1) College tuition costs are rising much faster than inflation, yet graduation rates and other measures of student success remain mediocre; (2) Data show that colleges and universities are spending more money on administration than instruction; (3) Federal and state governments should tie funding to performance measures to introduce greater accountability; and (4) We should give parents and students the tools to shop carefully for colleges and universities whose performance justifies their costs. (Contains 3 figures and 24 notes.)