High costs Colleges should explained

In just 30 years, we have seen a 577 percent increase in tuition and fees at colleges and universities across the nation -- a rate that has grown much higher than the rate of inflation. As a result of these extreme hikes, many students are unable to pursue college degrees.

Postsecondary education is increasingly considered important for success, and students have been willing to pay more without asking tough questions of colleges and universities about why costs are rising.

I fear that without a shift in this trend, more students will consider college education out of their reach and avoid the financial burden. Or they will be strapped with crippling debt before they enter the work force.

Recently I asked U.S. secretary of education margaret spellings to join me in a "telephone town hall" with residents across the state. We heard from a college student who spoke of his struggle to keep up with payments for classes, room and board and textbooks. It's a story I've heard too often from parents and students all around the country.

As a member of the U.S. House of representatives committee on Education and Labor, I have questioned many witnesses during hearings on the cost of educating collegebound students. I have asked higher education administrators and stakeholders what they believe is driving sky-rocketing prices, whether they believe rising costs are reasonable and justified, and sought suggestions to bring costs down. While each witness agreed that higher education expenses are a problem, I have yet to hear anyone clearly justify their institution's cost increases or detail how increased expenditures benefit students.

It seems to me that colleges and universities should be more transparent about how they spend students' money.

richard vedder, a distinguished professor and researcher from Ohio University, pointed out in recent testimony to the Education and labor committee that colleges and universities don't review ways to cut costs often enough. He also indicated that many schools have no incentive to cut costs because higher prices bring more prestige. Some colleges and universities have become so concerned with reputation that they will pay unfairly high salaries to esteemed researchers instead of focusing on highly qualified professors.

Other explanations for cost increases attribute rising energy and health care costs, less funding from state governments, security and technology upgrades, textbook costs and campus beautification.

I have also worried there might be a direct correlation between student loan availability and tuition increases. To investigate this possibility, I advanced legislation to study the effect, if any, of raising the amount of available federal student loans on tuition.

While this might be just one factor among many, I feel strongly that too many costs are unnecessarily passed on to students -- without looking for ways to cut expenses or raise private funds. Raising the cost of tuition should be a last resort, not the obvious payment structure for new spending.

This year as Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act of 1965, members are intent on updating the law to hold colleges and universities accountable for escalating costs by requiring them to outline the basis for these increases. This legislation, which is being reconciled with the Senate, will help ensure that parents and students have more information about the education in which they are investing.

The bill also encourages institutions to keep textbook costs down and enact sustainable energy-efficient practices to help lower overall costs.

It is clear to me that institutions of higher learning should provide students with a comprehensible and open account of the growth of their costs, so applicants are able to decide for themselves if costs are justified. Legislators must drive such transparency, pursue ways to reduce college costs, and hold institutions accountable so that every student is able to obtain a college degree.

It is good to see our area colleges make an effort to outline the basis for costs, such as the Delaware Project for Instructional Cost and Productivity conducted at the University of Delaware.

Affording college education has become one of the greatest challenges in a young person's life. High tuition costs are not always indicative of the best education available; such branding does a disservice to young people and the future of the economy. Determining how a college spends your money should be easily accessible information. And I believe that by demanding more accountability, we can ultimately change the trend of skyrocketing costs.

U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle of Delaware is the senior Republican on the U.S. house of representatives Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education

Tags: higher education administrators,collegebound students,rate of inflation,benefit students,richard vedder,colleges and universities,education expenses,margaret spellings,labor committee,representatives committee,secretary of education,financial burden,college education,tough questions,tuition and fees,college degrees,stakeholders,house of representatives,town hall,researcher

Sunday, June 08, 2008 |

---