[drillsteps5]

This reads like part of a PR campaign by some college-related interest group to try to influence public opinion. Prices have been and continue to rise. They say the prices stopped rising because inflation (meaning prices continue to rise but if you take inflation into account they do not), but I have not seen the numbers. There's like gazillion ways to measure inflation, if you use the one where it's 20% a year that might be true, but it's just a cop-out.

Also, maybe less people go into prestigious and expensive unis and go into less expensive ones, which brings the average down?

I look into the colleges for my kids right now and honestly unclear how I can afford putting 2 kids through reasonably good schools. Govt tells me I should be able to afford to pay about $80K per year for 4 years, and I do not see how I can do that without getting HELOC/second mortgage and tapping into my retirement savings. I just do not see how these prices are reasonable or go down.

[jalk]

I guess you skimmed the article, as inflation is not the main argument, but rather that most people don't pay the "sticker" price, but get various "discounts"

[vkou]

Somehow, I don't think turning the finances of education look more like the finances of the American healthcare system is the big win they think it is.

[drillsteps5]

I re-read the article and stand (partially) corrected.

>Since 2014-15 school year the cost attending a public four-year university has fallen by 21 percent, before adjusting for inflation.

Not sure how the cost is calculated though. The cost will be tuition, room and board, fees, less scholarships/grants (effectively college lowering the price to get the customer in), less various loans. If the loans are excluded from the cost this is not accurate, this is still the money the school will be getting, and the student will be paying. Also notice 2014-2015 and ONLY public four year school qualifiers (cost at private colleges continued to go up, although, according to the author, less then inflation).

> Once tax benefits are factored in, according to a recent Brookings Institution analysis, the average American is paying the same amount for tuition as they were in the 1990s.

Yeah no, this doesn't read like an honest analysis but as an attempt to drag the facts, kicking and screaming, to align with the author's agenda.

[Mountain_Skies]

That's nice for those who get the discounts. Terrible for those who are being discriminated against.

[paulpauper]

yes, this 100% . the discounts , scholarships, etc. make a big difference. This is why a college college degree is a better deal then the doom and gloomer naysayer pundits insist. With federal student loans, you are borrowing at close to the prime rate, but for average people, not hedge funds. This is a great deal assuming you graduate. Even 'soft' subjects from middling schools confer a ROI.

[eszed]

> close to the prime rate

Where do you get that? Federal loans are currently 6.5% for undergraduate, 8-something% for graduate. Private loans are higher than that.

[leereeves]

> Federal loans are currently 6.5% for undergraduate, 8-something% for graduate

And the current prime rate is 7.5%.

https://www.wsj.com/market-data/bonds/moneyrates

[eszed]

Ah, fair point. My 2008 graduate school loans were 6.8%, when the prime rate was 3-something%, so I'm reacting to old grudges. (And, of course, much higher interest rates, which I still haven't thoroughly assimilated.) Looks like the formula changed ~10 years ago, which is a good thing.

I retract my previous comment. Thank you.

[bloomingkales]

Yeah. How come none of their other articles have this at the bottom:

Support for this project was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Per wiki:

With assets of approximately $14 billion, Hewlett is one of the wealthiest grant makers in the United States.

Hmph. I guess the millions of successful college graduates are not providing enough positive PR mindshare, so they had to go buy some. Can't wait for their fine tuned LLM.

[DoctorOW]

William and Flora Hewlett are both deceased FYI.

[XajniN]

Send them to Europe. There are many good and reasonably priced universities in Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, France, etc.