However, we can only shrink enrollment if we substantially increase tuition. Much higher tuition is justifiable now, and still higher tuition would be justified were enrollments to decline and quality to increase. It is clear that tuition in Alabama is set far below its free-market value to those who attend school here. That is why Alabama taxpayers can pay more per student than do taxpayers in other states, while the universities still have less to spend per student than do universities in other states. The taxpayer subsidy is simply too great.
Education is priced so low that students flood the system.
Tuition at Auburn is especially underpriced because the quality of the education is appreciably higher than at other institutions in the state, but the tuition does not reflect it. If quality were increased substantially, and especially if parents knew that only top-quality students would be at the university, I think that most parents would willingly pay substantially higher tuition rates. Flagship universities in other states charge more than five times what Auburn does, and they have far more applicants than they can accept. Top-quality private schools that charge more than ten times what Auburn does, also have to turn away applicants. People expect to pay more for excellence.