United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan highlighted the tribulations of the nation’s higher education system Tuesday at the annual Federal Student Aid Conference in Las Vegas. Duncan also offered some words of advice to higher education officials across the country.
• From 1995 to 2007, the net price of college for full-time undergraduates rose 48 percent at for-profit schools, 26 percent at public two-year institutions and 20 percent at public four-
year institutions — all after being adjusted for inflation.
• Three in four Americans say college is too expensive for most people to afford, and three-fourths of young adults believe graduates have more debt than they can manage.
• College seniors with student loans now graduate with an average of more than $25,000 in debt. 
• Students with bachelor’s degrees are projected to earn an average of about $1 million more in their lifetimes than students with only high school diplomas.
• Containing costs at a postsecondary institution involves balancing three things: quality, access and cost, all of which affect the other. With more quality and access come higher costs.
• Higher productivity and better accountability will help balance
improved quality while constraining costs.
• The urgency of controlling college costs is not at odds with the urgency of increasing college attainment.
• Shifts in state spending on higher education are among the biggest drivers of tuition growth at public institutions.
 
 
 
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