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The Price you Pay for College by Ron Lieber has some interesting background. Essentially, some colleges started raising tuition and then offering more financial

The Price you Pay for College by Ron Lieber has some interesting background. Essentially, some colleges started raising tuition and then offering more financial aid and discount packages. This made them appear to be providing more to the students who got aid packages and they selected those schools more often. For the wealthy families who could afford the higher prices, they also felt the schools were more selective. The other colleges soon followed in order to maintain their perceived value. The second driver is the student loan system where the government has allowed special rules that make it almost impossible for lenders to lose. The lenders offer huge loans without regard for the ability to repay because they know they are protected. https://www.amazon.com/Price-You-Pay-College-Financial/dp/006286730X/ref=asc_df_006286730X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=507975958237&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2486194474399669191&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008468&hvtargid=pla-948972210161&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Price-You-Pay-College-Financial/dp/00...

sl-dolt 4y ago
This is basically what health insurance companies do. They want higher billed rates from hospitals so that they can offer better "discounts." In reality, no one pays the billed rates.
- Arrath 4y ago
  I get irrationally angry when I get my insurance statements for routine stuff. Doctor billed: $1500 Insurance allowed: $125 Insurance paid: $75 Your copay: $50
  - mindslight 4y ago
    Irrational? You're angry because they're trying to mislead you into thinking that "insurance" is covering 97% of a large bill. When in reality, they're only covering 60% of a small bill.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - SentinelLdnma 4y ago
    See also, protection racket [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket
  - red-iron-pine 4y ago
    Obfuscating how that process works is a huge problem. It's how they extract lots of value out of the consumer, and why Americans pay more than most socialized medical systems while having on-par or worse outcomes. Take a look at the list of Fortune 500 companies and notice how many are healthcare related. There is a reason it's never going to get better.
baron816 4y ago
Schools might as well raise tuition to $1 million per year. I guess I that case, the ruse would become more obvious.
slg 4y ago
>some colleges started raising tuition and then offering more financial aid and discount packages. This isn't necessarily a nefarious thing. For example, Harvard is famous for its goal of tuition never being a blocker for someone attending. Therefore an increase in the sticker price doesn't affect many people outside high income and net worth individuals and families. This just shifts a higher percentage of the costs to the people who can actually afford it which is generally good. If you want me to be concerned about the tuition costs of these elite private schools, at least tell me the median tuition paid and not the amount paid by the ultra affluent.
- musicale 4y ago
  An increase in the sticker price certainly eats up outside scholarships and loans. Harvard (and other ivies) may have eliminated student and parent loans for most undergraduates, but master's and professional students (and possibly their parents) often have to take out loans. And a large sticker price often means that the university simply pockets the entire amount of outside scholarships, deducting it from financial "need".
hanoz 4y ago
See also: the housing market. Just another of life's necessities the usurers have got in on so that they can leech of the productive members of society by introducing limitless competitive expenditure, for their own gain.

sl-dolt 4y ago

This is basically what health insurance companies do. They want higher billed rates from hospitals so that they can offer better "discounts." In reality, no one pays the billed rates.

Arrath 4y ago
I get irrationally angry when I get my insurance statements for routine stuff. Doctor billed: $1500 Insurance allowed: $125 Insurance paid: $75 Your copay: $50
- mindslight 4y ago
  Irrational? You're angry because they're trying to mislead you into thinking that "insurance" is covering 97% of a large bill. When in reality, they're only covering 60% of a small bill.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- SentinelLdnma 4y ago
  See also, protection racket [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protection_racket
- red-iron-pine 4y ago
  Obfuscating how that process works is a huge problem. It's how they extract lots of value out of the consumer, and why Americans pay more than most socialized medical systems while having on-par or worse outcomes. Take a look at the list of Fortune 500 companies and notice how many are healthcare related. There is a reason it's never going to get better.

baron816 4y ago

Schools might as well raise tuition to $1 million per year. I guess I that case, the ruse would become more obvious.

slg 4y ago

>some colleges started raising tuition and then offering more financial aid and discount packages. This isn't necessarily a nefarious thing. For example, Harvard is famous for its goal of tuition never being a blocker for someone attending. Therefore an increase in the sticker price doesn't affect many people outside high income and net worth individuals and families. This just shifts a higher percentage of the costs to the people who can actually afford it which is generally good. If you want me to be concerned about the tuition costs of these elite private schools, at least tell me the median tuition paid and not the amount paid by the ultra affluent.

musicale 4y ago
An increase in the sticker price certainly eats up outside scholarships and loans. Harvard (and other ivies) may have eliminated student and parent loans for most undergraduates, but master's and professional students (and possibly their parents) often have to take out loans. And a large sticker price often means that the university simply pockets the entire amount of outside scholarships, deducting it from financial "need".

hanoz 4y ago

See also: the housing market. Just another of life's necessities the usurers have got in on so that they can leech of the productive members of society by introducing limitless competitive expenditure, for their own gain.