College Tuition Outpaces Inflation Again --- Critics Call 3%-to-5% Boost Gouging, Defenders Cite Aid
NEW YORK -- The hairy beast of inflation, hunted to the brink of extinction in the broader economy, has taken refuge in the Ivory Tower.</br></br>Even while prices on everything from clothing to computer chips steadily decline, the cost of getting an education continues to rise, whether the sought-after institution is a private Ivy League college, a public university or a popular preschool.</br></br>In recent weeks, private universities have been announcing tuition for the 1999-2000 academic year, and the increases -- which range between 3% and 5% -- are more than double the annual rate of inflation. Private grade schools and preschools are boosting tuition as much as 7%. Public universities, which depend on state legislation to determine tuition, won't release new fees until the summer. However, previous increases have tended to be slightly lower than private-school increases, but still above inflation.</br></br>To hear some schools tell it, students should be happy that the increases aren't higher. "The actual cost of a Harvard education is close to $48,000 per year," lamented Harvard University when it announced a few weeks ago that next fall's fees will rise 3.3% to $32,164. Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., which plans to charge $30,939 for tuition and room and board next fall, seems disappointed that its tuition remains "significantly behind our major competition-Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The 3.5% [increase] will not close the gap."</br></br>How can educational institutions justify raising tuition at a time when inflation has nearly disappeared and when the stock market's stunning performance has boosted college endowments about 74%, on average, in the past four years?