Putting a Limit on Tuition Increases

By JACK KADDEN

Everyone complains about the steep and seemingly unending rise in tuition. Now, one college is responding — in a modest way.

As the article points out, “one percentage point above inflation might not seem like much to celebrate,” but it could be a first step toward reducing the rate of increase, which often exceeds the inflation rate by several percentage points. Last year, the article said, the average increase for private four-year colleges was 4.4 percent, while there was no inflation at all. 
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Middlebury College is expected to adopt a plan to limit increases in tuition to 1 percent above the Consumer Price Index, according to an article on the Web site Inside Higher Ed.

Middlebury’s president, Ronald D. Liebowitz, is pushing for the limit on tuition increases.

“The prolonged greater-than-C.P.I. increases in our comprehensive fee have ramifications for the college both internally and externally,” Liebowitz said on Friday, in a speechat the college announcing the policy shift. “We need to recognize that the demand for a four-year liberal arts degree, while still great, is not inelastic. There will be a price point at which even the most affluent of families will question their investment; the sooner we are able to reduce our fee increases, the better.”

In an interview, Liebowitz said that even though Middlebury is receiving record numbers of applications, the college should not take advantage of that by avoiding the problem that total costs — even with all the aid available — simply are too high. “I thought it was time to put a stick in the ground,” he said. “It’s not that people aren’t applying, but there is a tipping point coming some time. It’s time to recognize that.”

While the proposal could limit spending at Middlebury, affecting academic programs and professors’ salaries, Liebowitz said the initial reaction from faculty members was positive. One expert praised the action.

Laura W. Perna, associate professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, who has written extensively on college affordability issues, said that “from a market perspective, they don’t need to take this action. They have lots of applications and don’t need to reduce price to meet enrollment needs. But higher education should be listening to more than the market. They should be serving society and the public good, so I think this is a really important step.”

While Perna said that this will be “challenging” from an institutional finance perspective, she said it was a “great” step, adding that “it will be interesting to see if other colleges respond.”

What are your thoughts on rising tuition and the Middlebury proposal? Please use the comment box below.