This article is premised on the idea that colleges are selling education. Colleges sell a credential and I suppose a token to access the reputation and ability

This article is premised on the idea that colleges are selling education. Colleges sell a credential and I suppose a token to access the reputation and ability of other credential holders. The credential is the scarce good whereas education is increasingly free. It makes sense that they'd focus on pricing related to the credential rather than the education. I think people are buying the college's recruiting filter and its reputation first and the college's education second.