The Cost of Higher Ed: How Universities and Government Created a Debt Disaster

Over the last three decades, the cost of attending college in America has skyrocketed far beyond inflation and wage growth rates. Average per-student expenditure at public four-year institutions increased by a whopping 213% from 1987 to 2017. Tuition now consumes a crippling share of family incomes, forcing over 70% of graduates to take on debt averaging $30,000. Millions strain under student loan balances they may never repay.

This massive affordability crisis emerged from the conjuncture of two key forces: universities embracing a corporate business model and the federal government effectively subsidizing runaway tuition increases by backing unlimited student loans. College administrations began treating higher education as a profit-maximizing enterprise rather than a public good. And easy loan access allowed them to hike fees relentlessly while enrollments grew. The result is straightened household budgets, delayed life milestones and a generation entering adulthood already buried in debt.

Seeds of the Crisis

Public funding for higher education began declining in the 1970s and 80s amid tax revolts and shrinking state budgets. Colleges responded by raising tuition to fill gaps as state appropriations dropped from 75% of school revenue to just 25%…