PAYING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

HARDLY A WEEK goes by that yet another buzzword-filled report about the rising costs of higher education does not appear. Educational outcomes, preparation of an adequately trained workforce, equitable access to higher education, institutional position in national rankings, and, most recently, the role of colleges and universities in strengthening American competitiveness—all are subjects of intense scrutiny linked through the common bond of how the enterprise of higher education is financed. Measurements of value received by students, their families, employers, and society at large for the investment they have made continue especially to drive the generally friendly competition between public and private institutions. Public institutions of higher learning have a long history in the U.S., going back to the late 1700s. Many contemporary and largely sectarian private institutions were intended to train clergy and teachers. But public (state) institutions had practical objectives, which rapidly expanded in the mid-19th century with the passage of ...