The rising cost of higher education is

The rising cost of higher education is a topic of large concern today. As tuition prices continue to grow at a quicker pace than housing prices, consumer prices and average hourly wages, it is becoming harder and harder for the average American family to afford going to college. What factors have been driving this large rise in tuition prices? After analyzing the various forces that may be driving the price of higher education to rise above the Consumer Price Index over time. After defining long-run supply and demand for the higher education market, this thesis addresses economy-wide factors and summarizes the findings of Robert Archibald and David Feldman in Why Does College Cost So Much? The inability for supply to meet the increasing demand for higher education results in a supply and demand imbalance that drives up the price of higher education. After looking at both economy wide and higher education-specific factors, it is apparent that slow productivity growth and large wage increases for professors (cost) and a heartless total enrollment (supply) in the face of rising demand are largely driving the increase in the price of higher education.