Unit 3: The College Board: Trends in College Pricing

When many of us think of The College Board, the image of college admissions and assessment usually comes to mind. This organization, however, can also be considered an opinion leader in higher education finance. The College Board is a non-profit organization whose agenda is to provide information that connects potential students to college success and opportunity (The College Board, 2009). College bound high school seniors, for example, look to The College Board for information on the various aspects of going to college including the costs. Potential college students consider the College Board to be an opinion leader. This organization also provides data and other reference information that is useful to those who work in many aspects of higher education including finance - making it an opinion leader for them as well.

The College Board (2009) publishes an annual report Trends in College Pricing that provides "extensive data describing the variety of college prices in the U.S. and tracks those costs over time" (p. 4). The intended audience for this report are the consumers of higher education such as high school seniors (and their parents). Considering the country's current economic circumstances, however, the information offered in this report can be of particular interest for not only potential students but also college and university chief financial officers as well. The 2009-2010 issue of Trends in College Pricing, for example, provides insight into how colleges and universities are grappling with the recent economic pressures. The report includes published tuition prices for undergraduate education, net prices, and intuitions' non-tuition revenues just to name a few of the areas. The following are just a few snippets of the report that relates to our discussion on cost disease in higher education.

Tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities have risen at an annual rate of 4.9% per year beyond the general inflation rate from 1999-2000 to 2009-2010 (The College Board, 2009). In-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions, for example, was reported to be 6.5% higher than in 2008-2009 while public two-year colleges' in-state tuition and fees was 7.3% higher than 2008-2009. Not-for-profit four-year institutions experienced a 4.4% increase while for-profit four-year colleges and universities had a 6.5% increase. Further, the "average published tuition and fees for public four-year colleges and universities in 2009-2010 ranged from $5,802 in the South to $9,391 in New England" (p. 10). The Middle States Region average rate for tuition and fees was reported to be $2,180. In addition to the increases in tuition and fees, state appropriations declined from 82.2 billion in 2007-2008 to 78.5 billion to in 2008-2009. This is a 12% drop from previous years. This type of information can help guide potential students as to what type of college or university and geographical area they can afford. College and university chief financial officers can also use this information in their comparative studies and in budget planning. That is, chief financial officers and other college administrators can use the trends mentioned in this report to predict what may occur in the next fiscal year and plan appropriately for it.

The report also included some interesting information on enrollment trends that can be useful to parents, students, and college administrators. According to the report, "the percentage of first time student undergraduate enrollment in public colleges and universities declined from 81% to 76% between 1990 and 2007" (p. 17). In contrast, first-time student enrollment in for-profit institutions grew from 2% in 1990 to 8% in 2007. Enrollment in non-profit institutions also grew "from 2% in 1990 to 10% in 2007" (p. 17). This type of information usually draws the attention of high school students and their parents. These individuals, for example, could see the enrollment trends presented in this report as a signal that there may be problems with public colleges and universities and consider enrolling in the for-profit or non-profit institutions. Chief financial officers and other administrators in postsecondary institutions can also use this type of information to determine the changes and trends in the consumer market. This information can then be used in making budget decisions and in strategic planning.

The College Board's Trends in College Pricing is an extensive and informative report. Even though the information offered in this report is designed to assist potential students as consumers of higher education, chief financial officers in colleges and universities can certainly benefit from this information as well. It provides trends and projections that can serve as a reference for institutions especially in planning and research. Finally, the College Board emphasizes researching and tracking data associated with enrollment and college costs. It is this experience that helps make the organization an opinion leader in higher education finance.

References

The College Board (2009). Trends in college pricing. Retrieved October 28, 2009 from http://www.trends-collegeboard.com/college_pricing/pdf/2009_Trends_College_Pricing.pdf