Improving data to tackle the higher education "cost disease"

Wellman, J. (2010). Improving data to tackle the higher education "cost disease." Retrieved from http://periodicals.faqs.org/201004/1980865751.html.

In order to tackle the cost disease issue, one must understand what has contributed to defining cost disease. Over the past few years, there has been a renewed focus on degree attainment and access. President Obama made it clear during the presidential elections, that he wanted to have so many degrees by the year 2020. The United States is straggling behind other countries in relation to degree attainment (Wellman, 2010). Rising tuition is the clearest of the diseases. Students, parents and institutions feel the pressure of rising tuition costs. Cost of tuition has been on a continuous upswing since 1988. Another issue relates to spending. While college costs are on the rise, institutions are not spending on the student (Wellman, 2010). State funding is decreasing each year knowing the gap can be filled by students through increased tuition. Public opinion strongly supports public education but is highly critical of spending and cost management (Wellman, 2010).
Wellman argues that data can impact the cost disease dilemma (2010). Partnered with the Lumina Foundation, the Delta Cost Project is providing important information related to cost spending and educational access and performance (Wellman, 2010). Such data include:
• Revenues by major source, per FTE and adjusted for inflation
• Spending by major function
• Relationship between spending and tuition increases
• Patterns of cost, price and subsidy over time
• Costs of degree and certificate completion
• Measures of average education and related spending per student (Wellman, 2010).