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What's Happened to the Price of College?: Quality-Adjusted Net Price Indexes for Four-Year Colleges

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  • Amy Ellen Schwartz
  • Benjamin Scafidi
Abstract
In this paper we estimate hedonic models of the (consumer) price of college to construct quality-adjusted net price indexes for U.S. four-year colleges, where the net price of college is defined as tuition and fees minus financial aid. For academic years 1990–91 to 1994–95, we find adjusting for financial aid leads to a 22 percent decline in the estimated price index for all fouryear colleges, while quality adjusting the results leads to a further, albeit smaller, decline. Nevertheless, public comprehensive colleges, perhaps an important gateway to college for students from low-income backgrounds, experienced the largest net price increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Ellen Schwartz & Benjamin Scafidi, 2004. "What's Happened to the Price of College?: Quality-Adjusted Net Price Indexes for Four-Year Colleges," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(3), pages 723-745.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:39:y:2004:i:3:p:723-745
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Charles T. Clotfelter & Michael Rothschild, 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot93-1.
    2. Clotfelter, Charles T. & Rothschild, Michael (ed.), 1993. "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226110547.
    3. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1996. "Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number clot96-1.
    4. Caroline M. Hoxby, 1997. "How the Changing Market Structure of U.S. Higher Education Explains College Tuition," NBER Working Papers 6323, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Charles T. Clotfelter & Michael Rothschild, 1993. "Introduction to "Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education"," NBER Chapters, in: Studies of Supply and Demand in Higher Education, pages 1-10, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Bruce Sacerdote, 2001. "Peer Effects with Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 681-704.
    7. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1999. "The Familiar but Curious Economics of Higher Education: Introduction to a Symposium," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 3-12, Winter.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhifeng Cai & Jonathan Heathcote, 2022. "College Tuition and Income Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(1), pages 81-121, January.
    2. Denise Hazlett & Cynthia D. Hill, 2003. "Calculating the Candy Price Index: A Classroom Inflation Experiment," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 214-223, January.
    3. Elliott, Caroline & Soo, Kwok Tong, 2013. "The international market for MBA qualifications: The relationship between tuition fees and applications," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 162-174.
    4. J. N. Lye and J. G. Hirschberg, 2012. "What is a high school worth?: A model of Australian private secondary school fees," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1161, The University of Melbourne.
    5. Hill, Catharine B. & Winston, Gordon C., 2006. "Access: Net prices, affordability, and equity at a highly selective college," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 29-41, February.
    6. DANIEL P. McMILLEN & LARRY D. SINGELL & GLEN R. WADDELL, 2007. "Spatial Competition And The Price Of College," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(4), pages 817-833, October.

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