by Don Keelan
In 1983, the annual cost of attending Boston College was approximately $9,200. Applying the average annual inflation rate (2.77%) over the subsequent 41 years, the $9,200 would be roughly $28,000. On April 6, 2025, the Boston College trustees announced that the 2025-26 annual cost (without books) will be $91,792. What is driving up the cost not only at BC but also at colleges and universities nationwide?
I may have a possible answer later. In the meantime, a day doesn’t go by without reading another news item about America’s colleges.
Not all colleges are under attack by internal and external disrupters. Yet we hear of students illegally occupying buildings and grounds, demonstrating for causes, most notably the war in Gaza, college endowment holdings, and which guest speaker may be allowed on campus.
Externally, the federal government is in full attack mode. It is acting or threatening to act by suspending grants, redefining how foreign students may attend, and demanding a complete revamp of how colleges conduct their professional hiring and admissions. The most severe threat is the possible removal of the institution’s tax-exempt status, an action only the IRS can invoke.
So, what has happened in the last two or three decades that has put college operations on the front page? Let us start with cost.
Colleges appear to have taken a page out of the healthcare industry. About 60 years ago, healthcare providers did not have the full option of sending a patient’s bill to a third party. The patient and the provider negotiated the charges. Then came the “third party,” the healthcare insurance carriers, Medicare and Medicaid. This resulted in substantial business opportunities for the thousands of consultants, lobbyists, lawyers, equipment, and pharmaceutical enterprises attaching themselves to the healthcare industry.
The point is that the patient received the service, but the billing went elsewhere, so there is no need for the patient to be concerned.
College administrations realized the opportunity of cost being transferred at least temporarily to the student loan industry, supplemented by Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. Tuition cost was no longer the barrier; it could be transferred to “third parties,” with the former approaching $2 trillion. The tuition sticker price is not, in all cases, the net tuition, room, and board cost. For many families, even the net cost is a severe burden.
And for what? To be spending close to $400,000 for a four-year education only to see on more than just a few college campuses the blocking of access, harassment, and building take-overs? There was a time when the university was the bastion for free speech and expression, no matter the point of view of students or guest speakers. It was also a time of effective leadership.
There was also a period when students had no idea of their professors’ political ideology. At many institutions, this is no longer the norm. Surveys have noted that a substantial percentage of college faculty hold democratic/liberal/progressive views that are not checked at the classroom door.
The moment of reckoning for thousands of graduating college students is at hand. Hopefully, after four years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, they have achieved two goals.
The first is that they have objectively broadened their critical thinking and obtained skills that they did not possess four years earlier. The second is that they can get financially and personally rewarding employment.
Even without considering the impact of recent NCAA rulings on compensating college athletes and the revenue loss to the colleges, tuition, room, and board increases are unsustainable.
Over the last thirty years, there have been unfathomable cost increases in healthcare, housing, and four-year college education. Each is basic for the country’s future well-being.
Substantial cost increases were taking hold. We either were oblivious or delinquent in addressing healthcare and housing, and now, we are in crisis mode.
Many colleges will soon charge six figures. Fortunately, many state-operated and lesser-known private colleges continue to charge half such costs. There are also tangible benefits of attending a community college, tech school, or trade institute.
The college environment has dramatically changed regarding cost, expectations, and sustainability. Like hospitals, the college industry will continue to see many of its campuses close.
The author is a U.S. Marine (retired), CPA, and columnist living in Arlington, VT.