How to Think About Changes in Higher Education Affordability

Robert Archibald () and David Feldman
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Robert Archibald: Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

No 76, Working Papers from Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

Abstract: Many have argued that because the cost of attending college has increased more rapidly than family income, college has become less affordable. In this paper, we argue that this is not the correct way to think about affordability. Goods and services are more or less affordable if the consumer can or cannot afford to purchase the market basket of goods and services in the second time period he or she could afford in the first period. The measure of whether an increase in tuition and fees has increased or decreased affordability should focus on a comparison of the amount of goods and services families have left over after they have paid tuition and fees before and after the tuition increase. This paper explains why this type of measure should be preferred and investigates the recent history of affordability using this measure.

Keywords: Affordability; Higher Education Cost; Cost Disease (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I22 I23 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2008-08-29
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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