Education is not just a building block of society. It is more than a public good and a public right.
It is also a commodity.
Like a new car or a house or a dozen eggs, a quality education above and beyond high school graduation is something many people pay to receive.
But has the cost of that commodity reached a breaking point?
For years, the escalating cost of college tuition, the fees that accompany it, and the room and board on campus have been growing, feeding a student debt crisis. U.S. News and World Report puts the average weight of student loans for 2021 graduates at around $30,000. In 2000, it was $17,350. In 1990, it was $6,760.
That is the kind of growth one sees in something like a housing bubble, and bubbles burst.
Colleges and universities have been expressing concern about student debt but have frequently leaned toward addressing it through financial literacy classes or urging students to make smart decisions when it comes to graduating in four years rather than stretching to another semester or two. Those are important recommendations.
But they are often less focused on lowering the costs that drive students to take out loans.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education — the confederation of state universities — increased costs by an average of $57 for the 2021-22 year. Tuition freezes and active attempts to hold or lower costs amid inflation is seeing an increase in the number of freshmen at the 10 schools for the first time in 12 years.
One of them — Indiana University of Pennsylvania — is lowering costs by a significant amount. The 2022-23 costs will fall by almost $1,900.
That’s a move other schools — especially the large, state-related universities like Pitt and Penn State — should note.
Students and families cannot afford the tuition that has ballooned for decades. The dropping enrollments at state schools are just part of that very obvious fact.
Universities are a vital part of the state’s economy. But every commodity has a point where people just aren’t willing or able to pay the price.
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