Why does a college education cost so much?

“For more than two decades, colleges and universities across the country have been jacking up tuition at a faster rate than costs have risen on any other major product or service - four times faster than the overall inflation rate and faster even than increases in the price of gasoline or health care (see the chart to the right). The result: After adjusting for financial aid, the amount families pay for college has skyrocketed 439% since 1982.”

It certainly isn’t the quality of the teaching - most of your children are being taught by graduates students, and not the exalted professor’s for whom you chose the prestigious college or univerity. Once again, why does the cost keep rising?

The answer: Just keeping up with the Joneses!

“In the absence of any objective measure of the value of an education, price becomes the default yardstick. The more expensive a college is, the better the education it presumably provides. (After all, if other families were willing to pay this much to send their kids here, it must be worth it.)”

Source: CNNMoney.com