Higher Education Is Not a Mixtape - The Atlantic

Higher Education Is Not a Mixtape - The Atlantic

It's not the main point of the article, but it's all the more powerful for that: Financial aid and student loans are helping colleges avoid financial pressure to reform and slim down.

"With government chipping in more than three dollars for every dollar a student pays in tuition at public schools, and underwriting private ones as well, the real consumers of higher education aren't students at all. The real consumers are Congress and state legislatures--and so far they have exerted little cost pressure on higher-education institutions.

"Further confusing the education cost-and-demand market is the fact that most students don't actually pay their college costs at the time of purchase. According to the Project on Student Debt, more than seven in 10 U.S. college students take loans to pay for college. If purchase-price considerations significantly affected higher-education consumption, at least some intuitions would be lowering costs to attract students. Instead, costs continue to escalate and the most expensive schools have the most buyers."

The article also indirectly makes the point that students, parents, and guidance counselors are still mired in the traditional way of choosing one's higher education path.