Quote from piezoe:
Tuition in the public institutions, overall in the U.S. has just kept pace with the consumer inflation rate computed using the 1980 method. You're suggesting that because students have access to loans, the institutions have raised their tuitions more than they would have otherwise. This does not seem to be supported by fact, since the entire increase is attributable to inflation. If students did not have access to loans, there would be fewer students, and institution could downsize some. There is, however, economy of scale in the public institutions, so downsizing could be expected to result in an increase in tuition. Your thesis is not reasonable, at least as far as the public institutions are concerned. Your bet might be right if you were to examine the tuition increases at the most prestigious private universities with large endowments. They have different constraints then the public institutions and may play the tuition game differently, if they choose to.
The actual facts, as far as public institutions go, show that their total funding has lagged inflation, because State and Local appropriations have been cut. For example appropriations dropped by about 10% over the ten year period ending in 2008. (The most recent ten-year period I have data for.)
The students ire is misplaced. They should be demonstrating in Sacramento instead.
