However, when we get below the surface of this simple answer we face a very complex issue. Nevertheless, it is crucial that we develop a better understanding of the finances of higher education. A major problem in this area has been the lack of any shared understanding of the most important concepts in financing higher education. Specifically, it makes the importance of distinguishing between cost and price very clear and provides definitions of these important terms. All of the 1997-98 Educational and General Expenditures per student are illustrated in Figure 1.
Sticker price is the tuition and fees that institutions charge.
Net price is what students pay after financial aid is subtracted from the total price of attendance. During the summer school session of 1998, Dr. Judson Stryker's graduate accounting class examined the cost of educating a student at Stetson University. Each of four groups of students in the Masters of Accountancy Program compared Stetson's financial data with public information on a variety of public and private colleges and universities to better understand the costs of higher education. Many of the students in the class seemed surprised at the high level of general subsidy students at Stetson receive and each of the groups concluded that Stetson is an overall good value. John Tichenor has been with Stetson since 1996 and is the director of Institutional Research.