Another irony lurks here. The same day it announced its benevolent new aid package, Princeton noted that tuition would rise 3 percent next year. Such a bargain. Since 1980, college tuition has nearly tripled. The increases defy basic economics.
Price goes up without regard to supply and demand, affordability or endowment fund-raising.
Americans chasing prestige seem ever willing to pay more, and colleges happily cash the checks - letting some of the proceeds trickle down to needy students. That equation is cramping the college dreams of many middle-class Americans. Colleges need to work more on their sticker prices, not just fiddle with their discounts.