Inflation of education costs vs. other costs: Can anyone supply data?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2. You are paying for exclusivity. If the price fell too much the exclusivity would be diminished.

I think this is simplistic. To be fair, the same trend is occurring in higher education at the large state universities and at the small privates. The schools with larger endowments are able to offset it, but only because they aren't as tuition driven, but the fact remains that the difference is being made up for somewhere. This is not calculated. The cost of education is high and it goes further than the costs of keeping on the lights.

It is expensive to run a Development or Admissions office. Both are extremely data driven and in addition to all of the research/market research it takes to cultivate a lead in either arena, it also costs money to run and maintain that data/reporting (which is usually outsourced), obtain prospects/leads, and so on.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you are paying for exclusivity but you are paying for the extras. If schools cut the extras to save money that will have an adverse impact on the perception, and maybe reality, of the value provided. Since there is a free alternative (public school) the private schools need to ensure that they are providing something appreciably better or at least different than the free option to justify the cost.

[Anonymous]

Of course you are paying for exclusivity. Perhaps no one wants to admit this, but sending your kids to private school is as much about ensuring that they mix with the right sort of people as facilities, teachers etc.

If the private schools were populated by a representative cross-section of DC's population, with the same facilities and teachers, do you really think people would be just as keen to send their kids there?

[Anonymous]

Some would; some wouldn't. I'd be more eager.

[Anonymous]

Actually, I take that back. I like selective admissions. I just wish money wasn't such a determinative factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some would; some wouldn't. I'd be more eager.

Yeah, right.

Easy to say, but when one quarter of your child's classmates' fathers are in jail, in prison, on probation, or on parole I wonder whether you would be quite so chirpy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course you are paying for exclusivity. Perhaps no one wants to admit this, but sending your kids to private school is as much about ensuring that they mix with the right sort of people as facilities, teachers etc.

If the private schools were populated by a representative cross-section of DC's population, with the same facilities and teachers, do you really think people would be just as keen to send their kids there?

My kid had more diversity in private, of all sorts, than our current MCPS public.

[SAM2]

"The net price of college tuition and fees, after factoring in student aid and inflation, is actually lower now than five years ago. Tuition and fees rose 7.9 percent between 2009 and 2010 at public universities for in-state students and 4.5 percent for private four-year nonprofit colleges .... But the past year also saw a massive investment in public and private aid .... The average yearly net price of public four-year universities in tuition and fees, after discounting grant aid and tax benefits, declined from $2,080 to $1,540 in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2005-06 and 2010-11 ...." (http://goo.gl/QUzN)

Even aside from the aid-adjusted decrease, it's interesting to see that public tuition costs are increasing faster than private tuition costs.

[Anonymous]

SAM2 wrote:"The net price of college tuition and fees, after factoring in student aid and inflation, is actually lower now than five years ago. Tuition and fees rose 7.9 percent between 2009 and 2010 at public universities for in-state students and 4.5 percent for private four-year nonprofit colleges .... But the past year also saw a massive investment in public and private aid .... The average yearly net price of public four-year universities in tuition and fees, after discounting grant aid and tax benefits, declined from $2,080 to $1,540 in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2005-06 and 2010-11 ...." (http://goo.gl/QUzN)

Even aside from the aid-adjusted decrease, it's interesting to see that public tuition costs are increasing faster than private tuition costs.

Public colleges and universities are, in large part, supported by tax dollars. Tax revenues have plummeted because of the recession, so many states made the decision to reduce funding to colleges and universities. Tuition, subsequently, has increased.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that the average public school teacher makes more than the average private school teacher. The private schools want to retain good faculty and staff, so the compensation packages have to be somewhere in the ballpark.

[Anonymous]

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/college-sticker-prices-rising-but-so-does-financial-aid/

[SAM2]

I recently figured out how to generate this chart -- http://www.economagic.com/mgif/M6901740870201518366744435429.gif -- which (I think) compares increases in private school tuition costs against the Consumer Price Index generally from 1978-2010. Very interesting. It looks to me like the lines are roughly similar, at least up until the last few years.

Can anyone else read these things better than I can?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you are paying for exclusivity but you are paying for the extras. If schools cut the extras to save money that will have an adverse impact on the perception, and maybe reality, of the value provided. Since there is a free alternative (public school) the private schools need to ensure that they are providing something appreciably better or at least different than the free option to justify the cost.

DS was unhappy at the private he attended for a few years and we let him switch to public. Now he is in a 9th grade honors chemistry class with 37 students. Not a typo, 37 students. Needless to say, we are not getting any of those extra's that we were accustomed to in private. I for one highly valued the small class size and individual attention that DS received.